2-NRLF 


lib 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
OF 


THE  PHILANTHROPIC   RESULTS 


THE   WAR    IN    AMERICA. 


PHILANTHROPIC  RESULTS 


THE  WAR  IN  AMERICA, 


COLLECTED  FROM 


OFFICIAL   AND   OTHER  AUTHENTIC   SOURCES, 


An.  American  Citizen. 


Dedicated  by  permission  to  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission, 


NEW  YORK  : 

SHELDON  &  Co. ,  335  Broadway  ;  BOSTON,  GOULD  &  LINCOLN  ; 

LONDON,  TRUBXER  &  Co. 

1864. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864,  by 

WYXKOOP,  HALLENBECK  &  THOMAS, 

In  the  Clerks 's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


GIFT 


PRESS  OF  WYNKOOP   HALLENBECK  &  THOMAS, 
113  Fulton  street,  New  York. 


83 


PREFACE. 


IN  the  summer  of  1863,  a  merchant  of 
New  York,  deeply  impressed  with  t'he 
spirit  of  patriotism  which  had  led  the 
people  of  the  loyal  States  to  pour  out 
their  treasure  and  to  give  their  personal 
service  without  stint  for  their  country, 
was  led  to  procure  the  preparation  and 
publication  of  a  pamphlet,  on  the  philan 
thropic  results  of  the  war,  for  gratuitous 
circulation  abroad.  The  eagerness  with 
which  our  own  citizens  sought  for  copies 
of  that  pamphlet,  which  gave  statistics 
of  the  contributions  to  the  wants  of  our 
soldiers  and  their  families  to  the  spring 
of  1863,  induced  him  to  believe  that  a 
more  extended  and  complete  record  of 
the  nation's  philanthropy  in  connection 

M598596 


PREFACE. 

with  the  war  would  prove  attractive 
and  interesting.  He  has  therefore  caused 
the  narrative  and  statistics  to  be  brought 
up  to  February,  18G4,  and,  taking  advan 
tage  of  the  Metropolitan  Fair  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  has 
published  a  large  edition,  and  presented 
it  as  his  gift  to  the  Commission.  That 
it  may  stimulate  the  loyal  hearts  of  the 
nation  to  acts  of  still  greater  sacrifice, 
and  cause  the  fire  of  patriotism  to  burn 
with  a  yet  higher  and  holier  flame,  is  his 
earnest  desire. 

P.  S. — In  addition  to  those  presented 
as  above  to  the  Commission,  Messrs, 
WYNKOOP,  HALLENBECK  &  THOMAS,  the 
printers  of  this  work,  have  generously 
donated  one  thousand  copies  to  the  Me 
tropolitan  Fair,  and  several  other  gentle 
men  a  hundred  or  more  copies  each. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIC  RESULTS 


WAR  IN  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CONDITION  OF  THE  COUNTRY  AT  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE 
WAR.— SPONTANEOUSNESS  OF  THE  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF 
THE  PEOPLE. — ADVANCES  MADE  BY  THS  STATE  LEGISLA 
TURES. — SUBSCRIPTIONS  OF  CITIES,  BANKS,  CORPORA 
TIONS,  AND  PRIVATE  CITIZENS.— CONTRIBUTIONS  FOR 
ORGANIZING  AND  EQUIPPING  REGIMENTS.— BOUNTIES 

RAISED  BY  STATES,  COUNTIES,  CITIES,  TOWNS,  AND 
PRIVATE  CITIZENS,  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  1862,  AND 
SINCE  THAT  TIME. — MONEY  EXPENDED  FOR  STATE  DE 
FENSE. — APPROPRIATIONS  MADE  BY  STATE  LEGISLA 
TURES  FOR  SICK  AND  WOUNDED  SOLDIERS. 

THE  history  of  the  benevolent  enter 
prises  growing  out  of  the  civil  war  has 
been  so  remarkable,  so  unlike  anything 
in  the  previous  experience  of  mankind, 
that  it  deserves  a  special  record.  Ordi 
narily,  philanthropic  efforts  encounter, 
from  their  inception  to  their  consumma- 


8 

tion,  so  much  of  the  innate  selfishness  of 
our  race,  that  a  truthful  narrative  of  their 
progress  exhibits  a  succession  of  painful 
labors,  on  the  part  of  those  who  seek  to 
promote  them,  to  convince  those  who  are 
expected  to  contribute  of  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  and  of  their  obligation  to  give ; 
and  while  in  a  good  cause  the  few  give 
freely  and  heartily,  the  many  only  yield 
their  dole  to  earnest  and  perhaps  repeated 
solicitation.  If  the  philanthropic  work  is 
one  requiring  continuous  contributions 
from  year  to  year,  the  solicitations  must 
be  repeated,  with  perhaps  increasing 
urgency  and  vehemence  of  appeal,  or  the 
supply  of  means  will  diminish. 

But  in  the  philanthropic  contributions 
made  to  objects  connected  with  the  pre 
sent  war,  there  has  been  such  an  abnega 
tion  of  selfishness,  such  an  earnest  desire 
to  give,  such  an  unwillingness  to  be  de 
nied  the  privilege  of  giving,  as  have  made 
the  time  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  bene 
volence.  For  about  three  years  the  calls 


on  the  liberality  of  the  people  have  been 
increasing,  and  with  every  successive 
month  they  have  increased  almost  in  a 
geometric  ratio  ;  but  the  calls  have  been 
met  with  so  much  promptness,  and  have 
so  often  been  anticipated  by  their  earnest 
zeal,  that  the  greatest  difficulty  has  been 
to  direct  the  full  flowing  streams  of  cha 
rity  into  such  channels  as  should  most 
effectually  and  economically  accomplish 
the  objects  desired  by  the  liberal  donors. 
To  show  how  this  has  been  done  is  our 
pleasing  and  grateful  task. 

The  winter  of  1860-6 L,  had  not  been 
one  of  financial  prosperity.  Dark  and 
threatening  clouds  hung  over  the  nation's 
destiny.  The  Ship  of  State  tossed  on  a 
stormy  sea,  and  the  arm  of  her  pilot  was 
neither  steady  nor  strong.  Traitors  and 
mutineers  were  numerous  in  her  crew, 
and  some  of  them  were  high  in  command 
on  her  quarter-deck.  The  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  a  hearty  sympathizer  with 
the  seceding  States,  and  a  few  months 


10 

later  a  general  in  the  Rebel  army,  had  so 
thoroughly  impaired  the  national  credit, 
that  the  Government  six  per  cent,  bonds, 
which  at  the  beginning  of  his  cabinet  ser 
vice  he  had  bought  up  before  maturity  at 
117,  could  not  now  be  sold,  even  for  a 
loan  of  ten  millions,  at  86.  The  Army 
was  sent  to  remote  points,  the  Navy  care 
fully  stationed  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe  ;  the  arms  intended  for  the  use  of 
the  citizens  of  the  Union  in  case  of  inva 
sion  or  civil  war  delivered  to  the  States 
which  were  now  one  after  another  mar 
shaling  themselves  in  rebellion  to  the 
Government,  and  the  weak  and  selfish  old 
man  who  was  for  the  time  Chief  Magis 
trate,  acknowledged  himself  powerless  to 
breast  the  storm. 

Business  was  paralyzed  by  the  impend 
ing  danger ;  the  greater  part  of  the 
Southern  debtors  repudiated  their  obliga 
tions  to  creditors  at  the  North,  either 
voluntarily  or  under  the  express  command 
of  their  State  Governments,  and  the 


11 

losses  thus  sustained  led  to  extensive 
bankruptcies.  The  day  laborer,  the  arti 
san,  the  mechanic,  the  operatives  from 
the  manufactories,  and  the  clerks  from  the 
stores  sought  employment,  but  in  vain; 
there  was  not  a  full  day's  work  for  men 
in  any  department  of  labor  except  in  till 
ing  the  soil. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  horror  of 
darkness  that  the  proclamation  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  announc 
ing  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  calling 
for  troops  to  defend  the  Capital  from  trea 
son  and  rebellion,  fell  upon  the  nation's 
ear,  and  woke  an  instant  response  in  the 
nation's  heart. 

There  was  no  lack  of  men  ready  to 
peril  their  lives  in  the  defense  of  their 
country  ;  the  stagnation  of  business  might 
in  part  account  for  this,  but  neither  was 
there  any  lack  of  the  necessary  means 
for  supplying  the  equipments,  uniforms, 
and  rations  of  the  voluntary  soldiers  of 
the  Republic.  The  national  credit  was 


12 

indeed,  as  we  have  said,  at  a  low  ebb ; 
incapacity  and  treason  had  brought  it  to 
this  condition,  but  the  Legislatures  of 
most  of  the  loyal  States  met  in  extra  ses 
sion,  and  without  waiting  to  discuss  the 
probability  of  their  reimbursement  by  the 
National  Government,  voted  with  great 
unanimity  large  sums  for  arming  and 
equipping  troops.  In  some  of  the  States 
the  amounts  thus  voted  were  far  beyond 
what  they  had  ever  dreamed  of  raising 
for  State  purposes.  The  aggregate 
amount  thus  advanced  by  the  States 
within  three  weeks  after  the  President's 
proclamation  was  $23,240,000,  and 
within  a  year  had  reached  the  sum  of  $37,- 
701,991.  Of  this  sum  about  $12,000,000 
was  refunded  to  the  States  by  the  Govern 
ment  before  July  1, 1862,  and  a  portion  of 
the  remainder  since  that  time.  The  border 
States,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky, 
and  Missouri,  and  the  Pacific  States,  Cali 
fornia  and  Oregon,  did  not  at  this  time 
make  any  legislative  grants,  though  in 


13 

the  summer,  Kentucky  and  Missouri 
made  appropriations  for  Home  Guards. 

The  large  sums  thus  voted  for  the 
opening  of  the  war  were  not  unwillingly 
contributed  ;  on  the  contrary,  men  of  all 
parties  advocated  the  appropriations,  and 
the  people  who  must  pay  for  these  loans 
by  heavy  tax  were  more  urgent  than  even 
their  representatives  that  the  grants 
should  be  liberal.  The  action  of  the 
Legislatures  met  a  hearty  approval  at  the 
ballot-box,  and  there  were  no  complaints 
of  heavy  debt  or  oppressive  taxation. 

But  it  was  not  the  State  Legislatures 
alone  which  came  forward  thus  promptly 
to  aid  the  Government.  Nearly  every 
city  and  considerable  town  throughout 
the  loyal  States  made  its  subscription, 
both  by  vote  of  its  municipal  authorities 
and  by  the  spontaneous  contributions  of 
its  business  corporations  and  citizens. 
Before  the  6th  of  May,  1861,  New  York 
city  had  contributed  $2,173,000 ;  Phila 
delphia,  $330,000  ;  Boston,  $168,000  ; 
2 


14 

Cincinnati,  $280,000;  Buffalo,  $110,000; 
and  other  cities  and  towns  in  like  propor 
tion.  An  imperfect  list,  which  gave  the 
amounts  contributed  in  less  than  half 
the  cities  and  towns  which  had  sub 
scribed  for  the  equipment  of  troops? 
showed  an  aggregate  of  $4,877,000. 
The  entire  amount  considerably  exceeded 
$7,000,000.  From  these  two  sources, 
then,  in  the  first  three  weeks  of  the  re 
bellion,  a  sum  exceeding  $30,000,000  was 
furnished  toward  the  outfit  of  the  volun 
teer  army. 

Was  this  vast  outpouring  of  treasure 
by  a  people  who,  at  the  time,  were  suf 
fering  under  financial  disaster,  the  mad 
impulse  of  a  sudden,  frantic  excitement, 
which  soon  passed  away,  leaving  only  re 
gret  for  the  extravagance  it  had  prompted, 
or  was  it  rather  the  deliberate  action  of 
a  nation,  to  whom  its  institutions  were 
dearer  than  life  or  property?  The  sub 
sequent  history  of  the  war  proves  that 
the  latter  was  the  true  explanation  of  this 
almost  lavish  liberality. 


15 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  task  of 
quelling  the  Rebellion  was  one  of  gigan 
tic  proportions ;  that  the  conspirators 
had  been  for  years  maturing  their  plans, 
and  that  their  treason  could  only  be 
crushed  out  by  the  array  of  an  over 
whelming  force.  In  his  message  of  July 
4th,  President  Lincoln  suggested  the  pro 
priety  of  calling  for  400,000  men,  and 
voting  $400,000,000  for  the  work.  Con 
gress  responded  by  authorizing  calls  for 
one  million  of  men,*  and  $500,000,000. 
The  work  of  raising  and  equipping  such 
an  army  was  entirely  beyond  the  expe 
rience  of  any  man  in  this  country  ;  be 
yond,  indeed,  the  experience  of  any  men 
of  modern  times  ;  for  large  as  some  of 
the  armies  of  modern  Europe  have  been, 
no  single  power  had  ever  called  a  million 

°  Congress  probably  intended  to  authorize  the  rais 
ing  of  only  500,000  ;  but  in  reality,  two  separate  acts, 
July  22,  and  July  25,  were  passed,  each  authorizing 
the  raising  of  500,000  men.  Under  these  acts,  780,000 
were  actually  raised. 


16 

of  new  troops   into  the  field  within    a 
twelvemonth, 

While  the  Government  disbursed  liber 
ally  for  the  bounties,  uniforms,  equipment, 
arming,  and  rations  for  these  troops,  there 
were  other  expenses  connected  with  the 
organizations  of  the  regiments  which 
were  met  from  private  or  municipal 
sources,  of  very  large  amount  in  the  aggre 
gate,  larger  in  some  regiments  than  others ; 
but  in  those  from  Eastern  States  averag 
ing  somewhat  more  than  $25,000  (some 
regiments  cost  over  $75,000),  and  in  the 
Western  States  from  $15,000  to  $20,000. 
The  regiments  thus  raised  to  January, 
1862,  numbered  somewhat  more  than 
eight  hundred,  and  the  amount  paid  by 
corporations,  associations,  and  individuals, 
for  recruiting  purposes  to  that  time,  was 
not  less  than  $16,000,000.  From  that 
period  to  January,  1864,  over  one  thou 
sand  regiments  have  been  raised,  though 
at  a  somewhat  smaller  average  expense. 
Careful  inquiries  indicate  the  present  cost 


17 

of  placing  a  regiment  in  the  field,  aside 
from  the  Government  expenditure,  and 
bounties  of  all  kinds  at  about  $15,000. 
This  would  make  the  entire  cost  of  re 
cruiting  borne  by  corporations,  associa- 
tionsand  individuals,  between  $31,000,000 
and  $32,000,000,  which  is  probably  a 
very  low  estimate. 

The  disasters  which  befell  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  the  extraordinary  exer 
tions  made  by  the  .Confederate  authorities 
to  call  into  the  field  as  large  a  force  as 
possible,  led  the  President,  in  July,  1S62, 
to  issue  a  call  for  three  hundred  thousand 
three  years'  troops,  and  in  August,  a  sec 
ond,  for  three  hundred  thousand  more,  for 
nine  months.  An  enrollment  was  order 
ed,  preparatory  to  a  draft,  which  it  was 
supposed  would  be  necessary  for  raising 
the  second  quota,  but  great  exertions 
were  made  by  the  States,  counties,  and  in 
dividuals,  to  encourage  volunteering,  by 
the  offer  of  liberal  bounties,  extra  pay, 
and  provision  for  families,  and  in  most  of 
2* 


18 

the  States,  these  exertions  were  so  far  suc 
cessful,  that  the  quotas  were  nearly  or 
quite  filled  without  resort  to  conscription. 
The  sums  raised  for  bounties,  &c.,  were 
in  many  of  the  States  very  large  ;  in 
New  York,  the  State  offered  a  bounty  of 
$50 ;  the  county  of  New  York  $50  ad 
ditional,  the  county  of  Kings  $60,  and 
some  of  the  other  counties  $75  or  $100, 
while  the  subscriptions  of  wards,  districts, 
and  individuals,  increased  the  amount  in 
some  instances  to  $250  or  even  $300. 
The  average  bounty  paid  in  the  State  was 
computed  to  be  over  $150  per  man,  aside 
from  that  offered  by  the  General  Govern 
ment.  In  several  of  the  New  England 
States  this  amount  was  exceeded.  In 
Rhode  Island,  and  in  Massachusetts,  and 
Connecticut,  in  many  towns,  the  amount 
of  bounty  (with,  the  State  appropriation) 
was  $300,  $330,  and  in  one  or  two  cases 
as  high  as  $375  per  man,  and  the  average 
for  these  three  States  was  over  $200.  In 
Philadelphia  an  appropriation  of  $500,000 


19 

was  made  by  the  city,  and  a  fund  raised, 
by  subscription,  of  $486,270.49  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  bounties,  and  aiding  the 
families  of  the  volunteers.  Inmost  of  the 
Western  States,  very  considerable  sums 
were  paid  as  bounties  either  by  States, 
counties,  towns,  or  cities.  In  many  in 
stances  pledges  were  also  given  by  weal 
thy  citizens  to  pay  specified  sums  monthly 
to  the  families  of  volunteers.  In  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  amount  thus  paid 
for  bounties  and  aid  to  families  prior  to 
July,  1863,  by  the  State,  counties,  towns, 
cities,  associations,  and  individuals,  was 
not  less  than  $17,500,000.  In  Connecti 
cut  it  was  nearly  $6,000,000  ;  in  Massa 
chusetts  more  than  $7,500,000 ;  in  Ver 
mont  nearly  $3,000,000.  The  lack  of 
bureaux  of  military  statistics  in  most  of 
the  States  renders  our  information  on 
these  points  indefinite,  but  when  four  of 
the  loyal  States,  three  of  them  small  in 
territory,  expended  $34,000,000  for  this 
purpose,  it  is  not  possible  that  the  aggre- 


20 

gate  from  all  the  loyal  States  could  have 
fallen  short  of  $55,000,000.  The  expira 
tion  of  the  term  of  service  of  the  troops 
which  had  enlisted  for  two  years,  and  of 
the  nine  months  men,  and  the  necessity 
for  bringing  into  the  field  an  army  suffi 
ciently  formidable  to  crush  the  rebellion, 
which,  though  sorely  crippled,  was  still 
rampant,  led  to  the  enactment  of  the  en 
rollment,  or  as  it  is  usually  termed,  the 
conscription  act  of  March,  1863,  and  the 
proclamation  of  the  President  of  a  draft 
for  300,000  men  in  May,  1863.  Volun 
teering  for  the  filling  up  of  the  old  regi 
ments  and  the  organization  of  new  ones 
had  been  progressing,  though  slowly, 
through  the  winter  and  spring.  The 
draft  did  not  yield  so  large  a  force  as  was 
expected :  only  about  50,000  of  those 
drawn,  serving  either  in  person  or  by 
substitute  ;  and  the  formation  of  veteran 
regiments  composed  of  those  who  had 
been  for  one  year  or  more  in  the  service, 
was  resolved  on.  The  United  States 


21 

Government  offered  the  liberal  bounty  of 
$402  to  each  man  who  should  re-enlist. 
In  October,  1863,  the  Government  called 
for  300,000  volunteers,  offering  the  same 
bounty  to  those  who  had  already  served, 
or  $302  to  new  recruits,  and  in  January, 
the  President  increased  the  call  to  500, 000, 
of  which,  however,  the  drafted  men,  and 
those  enlisted  under  the  call  of  October, 
were  to  form  a  part.  The  regiments 
whose  term  of  service  would  expire  in 
the  spring  of  1854,  were  allowed  to  re- 
enlist,  and  receive  the  bounty  if  they 
chose,  and  form  a  portion  of  the  new 
force.  In  default  of  a  sufficient  number 
of  volunteers  being  secured  by  April,  the 
enrollment  act,  modified  by  Congress,  was 
to  be  enforced,  and  a  draft  proclaimed. 
These  measures  led  to  renewed  exertions 
to  stimulate  volunteering,  both  for  the 
purpose  of  avoiding  the  draft,  and  to  fill 
up  as  speedily  as  possible  the  wasted 
numbers  of  the  armies  in  the  field.  The 
terrible  battles  of  Chancellorsville,  Get- 


22 

tysburgh,  and  Stone  River,  the  sieges  of 
Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  and  the 
severe  engagement  of  Cbickamauga,  and 
the  battles  around  Chattanooga,  had  oc 
casioned  great  loss  of  life,  and  had  per 
manently  disabled  many  thousands  for 
future  service.  Probably  not  less  than 
100,000  Union  soldiers  were  Iwrs  du  com 
bat  from  these  and  other  engagements  of 
the  year.  The  rebels,  meanwhile,  were 
straining  every  nerve,  and  by  the  most 
relentless  conscription  were  forcing  every 
man  between  the  ages  of  17  and  60  into 
their  ranks,  and  nothing  short  of  the  ut 
most  exertion  would  enable  the  Govern 
ment  to  meet  them  with  equal  numbers. 
To  facilitate  volunteering  by  increasing 
still  further  the  liberal  bounties  offered 
by  the  Government  was  seen  to  be  the 
dictate  alike  of  patriotism  and  sound 
policy,  and  the  State  Legislatures,  coun 
ties,  cities,  towns,  and  individuals  again 
contributed  largely  to  this  object.  In  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  Legislature  ap- 


23 

propriated  $8,841,098  ;  Boards  of  Super 
visors,  $13,033,291.75;  Common  Councils 
$3,079,608.50  ;  and  towns  and  individuals 
about  $4,000,000  more,  making  a  sum 
total  of  $28,953,998.45,  from  that  State 
alone.  Massachusetts  paid  $7,625,436  ; 
Connecticut,  $2,000,000  ;  Vermont, 
$2,000,000 ,  Iowa,  $1,250,000  ;  Indiana, 
$3,500,000,  and  other  States  in  like  pro 
portion.  The  aggregate  of  the  boun 
ties  thus  paid,  aside  from  those  allowed 
by  the  General  Government,  exceeded 
$75,000,000. 

There  had  been  also  expended  during 
this  period,  by  particular  States,  large 
sums  for  State  defense  or  protection 
against  dangers  which  threatened  them 
individually  ;  thus  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
and  New  York  had  made  appropriations 
for  harbor  and  coast  defense  and  State  war 
vessels.  Pennsylvania,  for  harbor  defense 
and  protection  of  her  southern  line  against 
invasion,  and  had,  besides,  met  with  very 
heavy  losses  in  consequence  of  the  rebel 


24 

invasion  in  the  summer  of  1863  ;  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois  had  raised  troops  for 
defense  of  the  Ohio  river  frontier.  Ken 
tucky,  Missouri,  and  Maryland  had  raised 
and  maintained  considerable  bodies  of 
Home  Guards  and  local  militia  for  service 
in  protecting  their  States  from  the  ma 
rauding  bands  of  the  rebels ;  and  Iowa  and 
Minnesota  had  raised  troops  to  put  down 
the  Indians  who  had  risen  upon  the 
whites  in  those  States.  The  militia  of 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey, 
New  York,  and  Ohio  had  also  been  called 
out  to  the  number  of  100,000,  to  repel 
the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  and  Mary 
land,  in  June,  1863,  and  though  they 
were  paid  by  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  while  in  actual  service,  the  expen 
ditures  for  their  outfit,  &c.,  came  upon  the 
States.  The  aggregate  expenditure  for 
these  purposes,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascer 
tained,  was  about  $12,000,000,  without 
taking  into  account  the  losses  of  private 
property  by  the  rebels  and  the  Indians. 


25 

In  many  of  the  States,  special  appro 
priations  were  made  or  a  contingent  fund 
allowed  to  the  Governor  to  be  used  for 
the  relief  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers, 
either  in  hospitals,  on  the  field,  or  on  their 
way  home.  These  appropriations  amount 
ed  to  about  $900,000. 
3 


CHAPTEK    II. 

CONTRIBUTIONS  FOR  THE  COMFORT  OF  SOLDIERS  AND  THE 
RELIEF  OF  THEIR  FAMILIES. — THE  "  UNION  VOLUN 
TEER  REFRESHMENT  SALOON"  AND  THE  "  COOPER  SHOP 
REFRESHMENT  SALOON,"  OF  PHILADELPHIA.—  THE 
"  UNION  RELIEF  ASSOCIATION,"  OF  BALTIMORE. — THE 
"  SUBSISTENCE  COMMITTEE,"  OF  PITTSBURG. — OTHER 
SIMILAR  ORGANIZATIONS  ELSEWHERE. — THE  SIMULTA 
NEOUS  IMPULSE  TO  WORK  FOR  THE  SOLDIERS,  AT  THE 
OPENING  OF  THE  WAR. — THE  WOMAN'S  CENTRAL  ASSO 
CIATION  OF  RELIEF  IN  NEW  YORK THE  ORIGIN  OF 

THE  UNITED  STATES  SANITARY  COMMISSION. — ITS  PRO 
POSED  SPHERE  OF  ACTION. — DR.  WOOD'S  APPLICATION 

IN  ITS  BEHALF— AUTHORIZATION  BY  THE  SECRETARY 
OF  WAR  AND  THE  PRESIDENT. — ITS  CONSTITUENT  MEM 
BERS. 

THE  cry  that  the  Capital  was  in  danger, 
echoed  through  the  land  after  the  memo 
rable  proclamation  of  the  President  on 
the  15th  of  April,  1861,  and  the  volun 
teer  soldiery  who  rallied  at  once  for  its 
prote'ction  against  thetreasonabledesigns 
of  the  rebels,  came  forward  in  such  haste 
that,  in  many  cases,  they  were  not  pro 
vided  with  sufficient  rations  or  necessary 
change  of  apparel.  To  provide  these  for 
them  tasked  the  utmost  energies  of  the 


27 

patriotic  men  and  women  of  the  country, 
Everywhere  the  sewing-machines,  those 
u  swift -fingered  sisters  of  charity,"  were 
driven  at  their  utmost  speed,  and  paused 
not  even  for  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  in 
preparing  needful  articles  of  clothing,  and 
the  needle- women,  scarcely  less  swift  in 
their  labors  of  love,  worked  till  the  gray 
dawn  streaked  the  east,  and  after  the 
briefest  possible  interval  of  rest,  returned 
anew  to  their  toil.  Food  was  prepared 
in  immense  quantities,  but  still  not 
enough  for  the  hungry  mouths  to  be  filled, 
and  while  all  deemed  it  a  privilege  to  do 
what  they  could  for  the  soldier,  the  want 
of  system  and  organization  in  the  work 
was  such  that  there  was  danger,  after  all, 
that  some  would  suffer.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  some  did  suffer.  The  regiments 
which  poured  in  quick  succession  from 
the  Eastern  States  into  New  York,  and 
from  that  city  into  Philadelphia,  were  not 
only,  as  was  inevitable,  crowded  in  too 
large  numbers  upon  the  transport  ships, 


28 

but  they  were  often  for  twenty-four  hours 
or  more  without  food.  The  spontaneous 
instincts  of  patriotism  among  the  work 
ing  classes  in  the  vicinity  of  the  landings, 
in  both  cities,  exhibited  itself  in  hasten 
ing  to  the  cars  with  food  from  their  own 
scanty  stores  to  appease  the  hunger  of 
these  famishing  citizen  soldiers  In  Phil 
adelphia,  the  efforts  of  a  few  generous 
but  humble  souls  thus  to  supply  the 
wants  of  the  volunteers  gradually  grew 
up  into  organized  institutions  of  relief 
and  refreshment.  At  first,  it  was  a  poor 
man  boiling  coffee  for  the  soldiers  on  the 
sidewalk,  and  his  neighbors,  as  poor  as 
himself,  hastening  with  their  loaves  of 
bread,  their  slices  of  bacon,  and  other 
articles  of  food,  to  the  wharves,  whenever 
the  signal-gun  told  of  the  arrival  of  a  re 
giment  ;  ere  long  there  were  two  bands 
vieing  with  each  other  in  their  care  for 
the  regiments  which  continued  to  come, 
oftenest  at  night,  on  their  way  to  the 
theatre  of  war.  One  occupied  a  portion  of 


29 

a  large  cooper-shop,  the  other  an  old  boat- 
house,  and  by  and  by,  as  their  quarters 
grew  too  small,  other  buildings  were  add 
ed,  and  among  them,  small  hospitals  for 
the  soldiers  taken  sick  on  their  journey. 
Thus  grew  up,  in  a  rivalry  of  good  works, 
the  Union  Volunteer  Refreshment  Saloon, 
and  the  Cooper-shop  Refreshment  Saloon, 
both  consecrated  to  the  service  of  sup 
plying  freely  the  wants  of  the  soldiers  in 
transit  to  and  from  the  army  of  the  Po 
tomac.  The  citizens  of  Philadelphia  have 
contributed  liberally  and  heartily  to  the 
support  of  both,  and  the  committees  of 
both  organizations,  composed  almost 
wholly  of  men  and  women  of  the  work 
ing  classes,  have  toiled  indefatigably  for 
nearly  three  years,  often  laboring  through 
nearly  the  whole  night  in  the  prepara 
tion  of  meals,  to  have  them  ready  for  the 
soldiers  on  their  arrival.  One  of  these  in 
stitutions  (the  Union  Volunteer  Refresh 
ment  Saloon)  reports  the  furnishing  of 
400,000  meals  to  soldiers,  the  dressing  of 
3* 


30 

the  wounds  or  medical  attendance  upon 
over  10,000  sick  and  wounded  soldiers, 
and  the  furnishing  of  lodgings  to  about 
20,000  This  has  been  accomplished  from 
the  expenditure  of  about  $40, 000  in  money 
and  $17,000  in  sanitary  stores  and  pro 
visions.  The  other,  the  Cooper-shop  Re 
freshment  Saloon,  to  December,  1S63, 
had  expended  $40,232.22  in  money,  and 
had  fed  214,169  soldiers.  They  had  given 
temporary  attention  to  the  wounds  of  a 
large  number  of  soldiers  in  transit,  and 
had  had  over  600  under  treatment  in  their 
hospital. 

The  heroic  and  protracted  sacrifices 
made  by  the  excellent  people  who  have 
consecrated  themselves  to  these  blessed 
labors  of  charity  and  love  of  country, 
are  deserving  of  being  held  in  ever 
lasting  remembrance.  The  example  thus 
set  was  very  soon  imitated  in  other  cities. 
Baltimore,  whose  Union  men  had,  at  first, 
to  resist  the  flood  of  disloyalty  which 
swept  over  the  city,  and  stained  it  with 


31 

the  blood  of  some  of  the  noblest  sons  of 
Massachusetts,  was  the  foremost  in  this 
work.  Her  Union  citizens  were  tried  and 
true,  and  in  the  month  of  May,  1861, 
they  began,  in  a  humble  way  at  first,  to 
provide  for  the  wants  of  the  soldiers  who 
passed  through  the  city,  amid  much  ob 
loquy  and  reproach ;  but  soon  gaining 
strength,  they  organized  the  Union  Relief 
Association,  and  up  to  the  25th  of  June 
1863,  had  fed  451,639  soldiers  and  ex 
pended  in  this  work  of  benevolence, 
$61,693.49.  Nowhere  in  the  Union  does 
the  fire  of  patriotism  and  philanthropy 
burn  with  an  intenser  and  purer  flame 
than  in  Baltimore.  A  similar  organiza 
tion,  called  the  "  Pittsburgh  Subsistence 
Committee,"  was  established  very  early 
in  the  war  at  Pittsburgh.  Up  to  June, 
1863,  over  200,000  soldiers  had  been  fed 
by  it.  At  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  St. 
Louis,  organizations  of  an  analogous  char 
acter  were  established  in  the  summer  of 
1S61. 


32 

The  proclamation  of  the  President,  as 
we   have  already  intimated,  evoked  the 
patriotic  and  earnest  sympathies  of  the 
women  of  the  nation,  as  well  as  those* of 
the  sterner  sex.     Everywhere  fair  hands 
were  at  work,  and  fair  brows  grew  grave 
with  thought,  of  what  could  be  done  for 
those  who  were  going  forth  to  fight  the 
nation's  battles.     With  the  characteristic 
national  fondness  for  organization,  Ladies' 
Aid  and  Eelief  Societies  were  formed  every 
where.  One,  "The  Soldiers'  Aid  Society," 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  bearing  date  April  20, 
1861,  only  five  days  after  the  President's 
proclamation  ;    another  at  Philadelphia,  - 
"  The  Ladies'  Aid  Society,"  adopting  its 
constitution  on  the  26th  of  April,  and  a 
third,  "  The  Woman's  Central  Association 
of  Relief,  of  New  York,"  on  the  30th  of 
the  same  month.     By  the  middle  of  May 
there  were  hundreds  of  these  associations 
formed.     As  yet,  however,  they  hardly 
knew   what    was  to  be  done,   or    how, 
when,  and  where  to  do  it      That  lint  was 


33 

to  be  scraped,  bandages  prepared,  socks 
knit,  flannel  shirts  made,  and  other  work 
of  a  similar  kind  performed,  they  were 
aware,  but  what  further  was  to  be  done, 
and  how  the  articles  prepared  were  to  be 
distributed  to  the  army  without  waste, 
was  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  There  was 
a  strong  impulse  on  the  part  of  many  of 
the  younger  ladies  to  devote  themselves  to 
the  work  of  nursing  the  sick  and  wounded ; 
the  noble  deeds  of  Florence  Nightingale 
had  surrounded  her  with  a  halo  of  saint- 
liness  which  they  would  give  life  itself  to 
win,  but  most  of  them  knew  little  of  the 
arduous  duties  of  a  hospital  nurse,  and, 
as  yet,  happily,  there  were  very  few 
sick  and  no  wounded  to  be  nursed.  The 
Woman's  Central  Association  of  Belief 
had  among  its  officers  some  gentlemen  of 
large  experience  in  sanitary  science,  and 
of  considerable  knowledge  of  military 
hygiene,  and  they  wisely  gave  a  practical 
turn  to  its  labors  from  the  first.  Those 
who  desired  to  become  army  nurses  were 


34 

required  to  pass  examination  as  to  their 
qualifications,  and  then  to  attend  a  course 
of  instruction  and  training  at  one  of  the 
hospitals  and  under  the  direction  of  emi 
nent  physicians,  for  their  duties.  The 
Association  was  apprised  that  its  first  duty 
was  to  ascertain  what  the  Government 
would  and  could  do,  and  then  help  it  by 
working  with  it,  and  doing  what  it  could 
not  do.  Other  organizations  of  gentlemen 
were  attempting  by  different,  yet  in  the 
main,  similar  measures,  to  render  assistance 
to  the  Government.  Among  these  were 
the  "Advisory  Committee  of  the  Board 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  Hospi 
tals  of  New  York,"  and  "  The  New  York 
Medical  Association  for  furnishing  Hospi- 
*  tal  Supplies  in  aid  of  the  Army,"  both 
new  associations,  called  into  existence  by 
the  exigencies  of  the  war.  Fraternizing 
with  each  other,  as  they  well  might,  since 
they  all  looked  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  same  end,  these  associations  resolved 
to  send  a  joint  delegation  to  Washington, 


35 

to  confer  with  the  Government,  and  as 
certain  by  what  means  they  might  best 
co-operate  with  it,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
soldiers  of  the  nation. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1861,  Messrs. 
Henry  W.  Bellows,  D.  D.,  W.  H.  Van 
Buren,  M.  D.,  Elisha  Harris,  M.  D.,  and 
Jacob  Harsen,  M.  D.,  representatives  of 
these  three  associations,  drew  np  and  for 
warded  to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  com 
munication  setting  forth  the  propriety  of 
creating  an  organization  which  should 
unite  the  duties  and  labors  of  three  asso 
ciations,  and  co-operate  with  the  Medical 
Bureau  of  the  War  Department  to  such 
an  extent  that  each  might  aid  the  other 
in  securing  the  welfare  of  the  army.  For 
this  purpose  they  asked  that  a  mixed  com 
mission  of  civilians,  military  officers,  and 
medical  men,  might  be  appointed  by  the 
Government,  charged  with  the  duty  of 
methodizing  and  reducing  to  practical 
service  the  already  active  but  undirected 
benevolence  of  the  people  towards  the 


36 

army,  who  should  consider  the  general' 
subject  of  the  prevention  of  sickness 
and  suffering  among  the  troops,  and  sug 
gest  the  wisest  method  which  the  people 
at  large  could  use  to  manifest  their  good 
will  towards  the  comfort,  security,  and 
health  of  the  army.  They  referred  to  the 
commissions  which  followed  the  Crimean 
and  Indian  wars,  and  brought  to  light 
the  vast  amount  of  suffering  which  had 
been  needlessly  endured  there,  and  begged 
that,  in  this  case,  the  organization  might 
precede  the  war,  and  prevent  so  far  as  pos 
sible  the  suffering  which  would  otherwise 
ensue.  They  suggested,  also,  the  ap 
pointment  of  cooks  and  nurses  for  the 
army,  and  stated  that  the  "  Woman's 
Central  Association  of  Relief  "  stood  ready 
to  undertake  the  training  of  both  in  their 
duties. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  E.  C.  Wood,  M.  D., 
then  Acting  Surgeon-General,  now  in 
charge  of  the  Western  Medical  Depart 
ment,  followed  this  communication  by  a 


37  9 

letter  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
urging  the  establishment  of  the  desired 
Commission  as  a  needed  adjunct  to  the 
new,  extensive,  and  overwhelming  duties 
of  the  Medical  Bureau. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  the  delegation  ad 
dressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  a  "  Draft 
of  powers,  asked  from  the  Government, 
by  the  Sanitary  delegates  to  the  Presi 
dent  and  Secretary  of  War."  In  this  pa 
per  the  powers  desired,  were  stated  as 
follows  : 

"l.The  Commission  being  organized  for 
the  purposes  only  of  inquiry  and  advice, 
asks  for  no  legal  powers,  but  only  the 
official  recognition  and  moral  counte 
nance  of  the  Government,  which  will  be 
secured  by  its  public  appointment.  It 
asks  for  a  recommendatory  order,  ad 
dressed  in  its  favor  to  all  officers  of  the 
movement,  to  further  its  inquiries  ;  for 
permission  to  correspond  and  confer,  on 
a  confidential  footing,  with  .the  Medical 
Bureau  and  the  War  Department,  prof- 
4 


38 

fering  such  suggestions  and  counsel  as 
its  investigations  and  studies,  may  from 
time  to  time,  prompt  and  enable  it  to  of 
fer. 

"  2.  The  Commission  seeks  no  pecu 
niary  remuneration  from  the  Grove  rn- 
ment.  Its  motives  being  humane  and 
patriotic,  its  labors  will  be  its  own  re 
ward.  The  assignment  to  them  of  Yi 
room  in  one  of  the  public  buildings,  with 
stationery  and  other  necessary  con 
veniences,  would  meet  their  expectations 
in  this  direction. 

"  3.  The  Commission  asks  leave  to  sit 
through  the  war,  either  in  Washington, 
or  when  and  where  it  may  find  it  most 
convenient  and  useful;  but  it  wil I  dis 
band  should  experience  render  its  opera 
tions  embarrassing  to  the  Government, 
or  less  necessary  and  useful  than  it  is  now 
supposed  they  will  prove." 

Concerning  the  objects  of  the  Commis 
sion,  the  delegation  say  • 


39 

'*  The  general  object  of  the  Commis 
sion  is  through  suggestions  reported  from 
time  to  time,  to  the  Medical  Bureau  and 
the  War  Department,  to  bring  to  bear 
upon  the  health,  comfort  and  morale  of 
our  troops,  the  fullest  and  ripest  teach  •> 
ings  of  sanitary  science,  in  its  application 
to  military  life,  whether  deduced  from 
theory  or  practical  observations,  from 
general  hygienic  principles,  or  from  the 
experience  of  the  Crimean,  the  East  In 
dia,  and  the  Italian  wars.  Its  objects  are 
purely  advisory." 

They  indicate  the  following  specific 
objects  of  inquiry  : 

"  1.  Materiel  of  the  Volunteers.  The 
Commission  proposes  a  practical  inquiry 
into  the  material  of  the  Volunteer  forces, 
with  reference  to  the  laws  and  usages  of 
the  several  States,  in  the  matter  of  in 
spections,  with  the  hope  of  assimilating 
the  regulations  with  those  of  the  army  pro 
per  alike  in  the  appointment  of  medical 
and  other  officers,  and  in  the  vigorous  ap- 


40 

plication  of  just  rules  and  principles  to  re 
cruiting  and  inspection  laws.  This  in 
quiry  would  exhaust  every  topic  apper 
taining  to  the  original  materiel  of  the 
army,  considered  as  a  subject  of  sanitary 
and  medical  care. 

II.  Prevention.  The  Commission  would 
inquire  with  scientific  thoroughness  into 
ihe  subject  of  diet,  cooking,  cooks,  cloth 
ing,  huts,  camping  grounds,  transports, 
transitory  depots,  with  their  expenses, 
camp  police,  with  reference  to  settling 
the  question,  how  far  the  regulations  of 
the  army  proper,  are  or  can  be  practically 
carried  out  among  the  volunteer  regi 
ments,  and  what  changes  or  modifications 
are  desirable  from  their  peculiar  character 
and  circumstances?  Everything  apper 
taining  to  outfit,  cleanliness,  precautions 
against  damp,  cold,  heat,  malaria,  infec 
tion  and  unvaried  or  ill  cooked  food, 
and  an  irregular  or  careless  commissariat, 
would  fall  under  this  head. 

"III.  Relief.  The  Commission  would  in- 


quire  into  the  organization  of  Military 
Hospitals,general  and  regimental ;  the  pre 
cise  regulations  and  routine  through  which 
the  services  of  ilie  patriotic  women  of  the 
country  may  be  made  available  as  nurses ; 
the  nature  and  sufficiency  of  hospital 
supplies ;  the  method  of  obtaining  and  re 
gulating  all  other  extra  and  unbought 
supplies,  contributing  to  the  comfort  of 
the  sick  ;  the  question  of  ambulances  and 
field  services,  and  of  extra  medical  aid  ; 
and  whatever  else  relates  to  the  care,  re 
lief,  or  cure  of  the  sick  and  wounded, 
their  investigations  being  guided  by  the 
highest  and  latest  medical  and  military 
experience,  and  carefully  adapted  to  the 
nature  and  wants  of  our  immediate  army, 
and  its  peculiar  origin  and  circumstances." 
The  President  and  Secretary  of  War 
were  not  at  first  disposed  to  look  with 
any  great  favor  upon  this  plan,  which  they 
regarded  r  ather  as  a  sentimental  scheme 
concocted  by  women,  clergymen,  an  d 
humane  physicians,  than  as  one  whose 
4* 


42 

practical  workings  would  prove  of  incal 
culable  benefit  to  the  army  which  was 
rapidly  coming  into  existence.  The  earn 
estness  of  its  advocates,  their  high  posi 
tion,  and  the  evidence  which  was  adduced 
that  they  only  represented  the  voice  of  the 
nation;  produced  some  effect  in  modifying 
their  views,  and  when  the  Acting  Sur 
geon-General  asked  for  it,  as  a  needed 
adjuvant  to  the  Medical  Bureau,  likely 
soon  to  be  overwhelmed  by  its  new  du 
ties,  they  finally  decided,  though  re 
luctantly,  to  permit  its  organization. 

Accordingly  the  Secretary  of  War,  on 
the  9th  of  June,  decided  on  the  creation 
of  such  a  Commission,  the  President  ap 
proving.  The  title  first  given  to  the  new 
organization  was  "  The  Commission  of 
Inquiry  and  Advice  in  respect  of  the 
Sanitary  Interests  of  the  United  States 
Forces,"  but  was  subsequently  changed 
to  "  The  United  States  Sanitary  Commis 
sion." 

It  was  composed  of  the  following  gentle 
men:  Rev.  Henry  W  Bellows,  D.  D., 


43 

President,  New  York  ;  Professor  A.  D. 
Bache,  Vice  President,  Washington ; 
Elisha  Harris,  M.  D.,  Corresponding  Sec 
retary,  New  York  ;  George  W.  Cullum? 
U.  S.  A.,  Washington ;  Alexander  E. . 
Shiras,  U.  S.  A.,  Washington  ;  Robert  C. 
Wood,  M.  D.,  U.  S.  A.,  Washington; 
William  II.  Van  Buren,  M.  D.,  New  York  ; 
Wolcott  Gibbs,  M.  D.,  New  York  ,  Cor 
nelius  R.  Agnew,  M.  D.,  New  York ; 
George  T.  Strong,  New  York  ;  Frederick 
Law  Olmsted,  New  York ;  Samuel  G. 
Howe,  M.  D.,  Boston ;  J.  S.  Newberry, 
M.  D  ,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  To  these  were 
subsequently  added  Horace  Binney,  Jr., 
Philadelphia ;  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  M.  Clark, 
D.  D.,  Providence,  R.  I.;  Hon.  Joseph 
Holt,  Kentucky  ;  R.  W.  Burnett,  Cin 
cinnati,  Ohio ;  Hon.  Mark  Skinner, 
Chicago,  Illinois;  Rev,  John  H.  Hey- 
wood,  Louisville,  Kentucky  ;  Professor 
Fairman  Rogers,  Philadelphia  ;  J.  Hun- 
tington  Wolcott,  Boston  ;  and  about  five 
hundred  associate  members,  in  all  parts 
of  the  country. 


44 


CHAPTEK  III. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  SANITARY  COMMISSION  CONTINUED. 

ITS  ORGANIZATION. — ITS  MEDICAL  PUBLICATIONS. — ITS 
SERVICES  IN  THE  FIELD. — THE  THREE  DEPARTMENTS  OF 
THE  SANITARY  COMMISSON'S  WORK. — I.  SANITARY  IN 
SPECTION  OR  PREVENTIVE  SERVICE ITS  SUBDIVISIONS. 

— II.  GENERAL  RELIEF. — How  ADMINISTERED. — III 
SPECIAL  RELIEF. — HOMES. — LODGES.— HOSPITAL  DI 
RECTORY.— OTHER  MODES  OF  SPECIAL  RELIEF.— RE 
CEIPTS  OF  THE  COMMISSION.— IN  MONEY. — IN  SUPPLIES. 
— THE  LATTER  DRAWN  FROM  THE  BRANCHES. — SANI 
TARY  FAIRS. — THE  WESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION. 

— ITS     ORGANIZATION. — ITS   WORK. — ITS    RECEIPTS. 

IT  is  a  matter  of  wonder,  that  in  a  field 
so  wholly  new.  the  delegation  should  have 
so  fully  comprehended  the  duties  which 
would  be  incumbent  upon  the  Commis 
sion,  and  the  range  of  its  future  operations. 
There  were  indeed  certain  features  of  its 
work  which,  of  necessity,  could  only  be 
developed  by  the  bitter  experiences 
through  which  it  was  called  to  pass ;  and 
in  the  end,  the  great  lack  in  the  Govern 
ment  Medical  Service,  compelled  it  to  as 
sume  more  of  the  executive  and  less  of 
the  advisory  functions.  Still  it  has  never 


45 

failed  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  created 
to  aid  by  its  advice,  counsel,  and  where 
needed,  its  direct  help,  the  medical  de 
partment  of  the  Government  service,  and 
has  ever  been  ready  to  withdraw  from 
every  duty  which  that  Department,  under 
its  constantly  increasing  efficiency,  could 
successfully  perform. 

Under  its  charter,  it  at  once  proceeded 
to  organize  its  action  and  to  appoint  com 
mittees  from  its  members  to  visit  every 
camp,  recruiting-post,  transport,  fort, 
hospital,  and  military  station,  to  ascer 
tain  and  report  all  abuses,  and  to  perfect 
such  organization  as  might  insure  a 
higher  degree  of  health  and  comfort  for 
the  soldiers. 

The  medical  members  of  the  Commis 
sion  undertook  to  consider  the  questions 
which  might  arise  concerning  the  diseases 
of  the  camp,  and  their  medical  and  sur 
gical  treatment,  from  the  highest  scien 
tific  point  of  view,  and  guided  by 
the  rich  and  abundant  experience  of 


46 

European  army  surgeons,  to  prepare 
brief  medical  and  surgical  tracts  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  volunteer  surgeons  of 
the  Army.  Among  these  tracts,  of  which 
many  thousands  have  been  circulated, 
were  "  Advice  as  to  Camping  ;"  "Keport 
on  Military  Hygiene  and  Therapeutics ;'' 
"  Dr.  Guthrie's  Directions  to  Army  Sur 
geons  on  the  battle-field  ;"  "  Rules  for 
preserving  the  Health  of  the  Soldier;" 
"  Quinine  as  a  prophylactic  against  mala 
rious  Diseases ;"  "  Report  on  the  value 
of  Vaccination  in  armies ;"  "  Report  on 
Amputation;"  u Report  on  Amputation 
through  the  foot  and  at  the  ancle  joint ;" 
"  Report  on  Venereal  Diseases ;"  "  Report 
on  Pneumonia  ;"  "  Report  on  Continued 
Fevers  ;"  "  Report  on  Excision  of  Joints 
for  traumatic  cause ;"  "  Report  on  Dys 
entery;"  "  Report  on  Scurvy;"  "  Re 
port  on  the  Treatment  of  Fractures  in 
military  surgery  ;"  "  Report  on  the  nature 
and  treatment  of  Miasmatic  Fevers  ;" 
"Report  on  the  treatment  of  Yellow 


47 

Fever  ;"  "  Report  on  the  treatment  of  In 
fectious  Diseases,"  &c.  It  is  no  more  than 
justice  to  the  able  authors  of  these  essays, 
to  say  that  they  take  rank  with  the  best 
medical  and  surgical  treatises  extant,  and 
have  been  of  incalculable  value  to  the 
surgeons  in  whose  hands  they  have  been 
placed. 

Three  important  committees  were  ap 
pointed,  one  to  communicate  the  matured 
counsels  of  the  Commission  to  the  Gov 
ernment  ,  and  procure  their  ordering  by 
the  proper  Departments;  a  second  to 
maintain  a  direct  relation  with  the  army 
officers  and  medical  men,  with  the  camps 
and  hospitals,  and  by  all  proper  methods 
to  make  sure  of  the  carrying  out  of  the 
sanitary  orders  of  the  Medical  Bureau 
and  the  War  Department ;  and  a  third  to 
be  in  constant  communication  with  the 
State  Governments,  and  the  public  be 
nevolent  associations  interested  in  the 
army. 

This  plan  of  organization  was  approved 


48 

by. the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  13th 
June,  1861,  and  on  the  21st  of  that 
month  the  Commission  issued  its  first 
address  to  the  public.  This  was  soon 
followed  by  an  eloquent  appeal  to  the 
Life  Insurance  Companies,  and  another 
to  men  of  wealth  throughout  the  country 
for  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  its  work. 
The  members  of  the  Commission,  as  such, 
received  no  compensation,  but  the  pur 
poses  of  the  organization  would  require 
a  very  considerable  number  of  paid  em 
ployes,  and  would  involve  heavy  expenses 
for  publications  and  supplies,  which  could 
only  be  purchased  with  money.  A  con 
siderable  number  of  associate  members 
were  elected  at  this  time,  who  gave  their 
services  in  raising  means  for  the  oper 
ations  of  the  Commission,  and  Ladies' 
Associations,  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
prepared  clothing  and  supplies  of  all  sorts, 
and  forwarded  them  to  its  depots. 

The  members  of  the  Commission  visit 
ed,    during    the    summer    of  1861,    the 


49 

different  camps  of  the  widely-extended 
armies  of  the  Kepublic,  and  carefully  in 
spected  and  reported  upon  their  sanitary 
condition  and  needs. 

The  necessity  of  the  services  of  the 
agents  of  the  Commission  on  the  field 
immediately  after,  or  when  practicable, 
during  the  progress  of,  important  battles, 
was  felt,  as  soon  as  such  battles  occurred. 
At  first,  owing  to  the  difficulties  of  pro 
curing  transportation  for  its  supplies  to 
the  field,  in  consequence  of  the  depen 
dence  of  the  Medical  Bureau  upon  the 
Quartermaster's  Bureau  for  transporta 
tion,  it  could  not  reach  the  field  so  early 
as  its  officers  desired,  and  in  some  of  the 
earlier  battles,  there  was  great  suffering 
(partially  ameliorated,  it  is  true,  by  indi 
vidual  effort  and  enterprise),  in  conse 
quence.  But  the  Commission  soon  found 
it  necessary  to  have  its  own  independent 
transportation,  and  this  both  by  land  and 
water ;  its  hospital  transports,  its  wag 
ons  and  ambulances,  and  its  ambulance 
5 


50 

railroad  cars.  In  July,  1863,  it  added  to 
these  the  plan  of  attaching  to  each  army 
corps  a  Superintendent  of  Relief,  with  his 
assistants,  wagons,  ambulances,  arid  sup 
plies,  to  remain  constantly  with  his  corps 
and  minister  to  its  needs. 

It  has,  throughout,  worked  in  harmony 
with  the  United  States  Government,  and 
especially  with  the  Medical  Bureau,  to 
which  it  has  proved  of  great  service. 
That  bureau,  which,  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  war,  was  utterly  inadequate, 
though  from  no  fault  of  its  own,  to  the 
vast  work  before  it,  is  now  well  regulated 
and  admirably  organized,  having  a  corps 
of  three  thousand  skillful  and  responsible 
surgeons,  and  fifteen  thousand  hired 
nurses  experienced  in  their  duties. 

But  even  with  this  large  force,  trained 
as  it  has  been  by  the  arduous  duties 
to  which  it  has  been  called,  there  are, 
and  must  be,  numerous  instances  where 
the  most  perfect  working  of  the  Govern 
ment  machinery  cannot  remedy  suffering 


51 

and  misery  which  a  more  flexible  system 
can  relieve.  The  presence  of  incipient 
scurvy  among  the  troops  on  Morris 
Island,  arid  the  forces  engaged  in  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  was  de 
tected  and  remedied  by  the  sending  at 
once  of  large  amounts  of  fresh  vegetables 
and  anti-scorbutics  by  the  Commission 
to  those  points,  which  reached  them 
promptly,  and  arrested  the  disease,  while, 
by  the  necessarily  slow  movements  of  the 
Government,  many  weeks  must  have 
elapsed  ere  the  needed  remedies  could 
have  been  furnished,  and  meantime  half 
the  forces  engaged  would  have  perished. 
"  Potatoes  and  onions,"  says  one  of  the 
energetic  lady  agents  of  the  Commission 
in  Chicago,  "  captured  Vicksburg."  "The 
supplies  of  fresh  vegetables  and  anti-scor 
butics  sent  by  the  Sanitary  Commission 
to  Morris  Island,  saved  the  army  of  the 
South,"  is  the  testimony  of  an  impartial 
but  thoroughly  competent  witness,  who 
spent  ten  months  in  the  hospitals  of  that 
department  in  1SG3. 


52 

The  work  of  the  Sanitary  Commission 
now  comprehends  the  following  distinct 
departments  of  labor  :  lgr.  The  preven 
tive  service  or  Sanitary  Inspection,  which 
requires  a  corps  of  Medical  Inspectors, 
whose  time  is  passed  with  each  army 
corps  in  the  field,  visiting  camps,  hospi 
tals,  and  transports;  skillful  and  experi 
enced  physicians,  who  watch  the  perils 
from  climate,  malarious  exposure,  from 
hard  marching  or  active  campaigning, 
from  inadequate  food  or  clothing,  grow 
ing  out  of  imperfect  facilities  of  transpor 
tation,  and  report  to  the  Chief  Inspector 
of  that  army,  and  through  him  to  the 
Chief  of  Inspection  at  Headquarters,  for 
remedy,  or  to  the  Associate  Secretary  in 
charge,  or  to  Relief  Agents  under  their 
control,  and  thus  see  to  the  supplying  of 
the  needs  of  that  portion  of  the  army, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  necessary  mea 
sures  for  the  improvement  of  its  sanitary 
condition.  From  the  reports  of  these 
Inspectors  the  materials  are  gathered 


53 

which  are  digested  into  such  forms  as  to 
be  of  permanent  value  in  the  Commis 
sion's  Bureau  of  Statistics.  To  this  de 
partment  belongs  also  the  corps  of  Spe 
cial  Hospital  Inspectors,  selected  from  the 
most  learned  and  skillful  physicians  of  the 
country,  who,  from  time  to  time,  make 
the  circuit  of  all  the  general  hospitals 
of  the  army,  (now  233  in  number),  and 
report  upon  their  wants,  condition,  pro 
gress,  personnel,  and  capacity  for  improve 
ment.  The  substance  of  these  reports  is 
confidentially  made  over  to  the  Surgeon- 
(reneral.  A  third  agency,  in  connection 
with  this  preventive  service,  is  the  pre 
paration  and  circulation  of  medical  tracts, 
and  information  important  and  indispen 
sable  to  the  officers,  soldiers,  and  espe 
cially  the  medical  men  in  the  field.  The 
titles  of  these  medical  tracts  we  have  al 
ready  given,  but  the  Commission  has  also 
published  many  giving  important  sugges 
tions  to  the  officers  and  men,  not  proper 
ly  medical  in  their  character. 
5* 


54 

II.  The  Department  of  General  Relief. — 
The  supplies  of  food,  clothing,  bandages, 
hospital  furniture,  clothing,  and  bedding, 
delicacies  for  the  sick,  stimulants  and 
cordials,  for  the  wounded  on  the  field, 
the  sick  and  wounded  in  camp,  field,  regi 
mental,  post,  and  general  hospitals,  come 
from  the  branches  of  the  Commission,  of 
which  there  are  twelve,  having  depots  in 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Balti 
more,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Chicago, 
Buffalo,  Pittsburg,  Detroit,  Columbus, 
and  Louisville.  Each  of  these  branches, 
which  are  variously  denominated  as  La 
dies'  Aid  Societies,  Kelief  Associations, 
&c.,  has  its  distinctly  defined  field,  from 
which  it  draws  its  supplies,  and  has  from 
one  hundred  and  fifty  to  twelve  hundred 
auxiliary  aid  societies,  in  the  towns,  ham 
lets,  and  villages,  and,  in  the  cities,  in  the 
different  churches,  of  its  field.  The  stores 
collected  by  the  branch  are  received  at 
its  depot,  opened,  assorted,  each  kind  by 
itself,  repacked,  and  reports  of  the  num- 


55 

ber  and  amount  of  the  supplies  thus  ac 
cumulated,  are  sent  every  week  to  the 
principal  office  of  the  Commission,  or  to 
the  Associate  Secretary  of  the  Eastern  or 
Western  Department,  as  the  case  may  be, 
arid  shipped,  according  to  orders  received, 
to  the  army  where  they  are  needed,  with 
the  utmost  promptness.  One  of  these 
branches  (the  "Woman's  Central  Associa 
tion  of  Kelief")  reported,  among  the 
stores  forwarded  from  its  depot,  from  May 
1, 186 1,  to  Nov.  1,  1863,  471,318  pieces  of 
clothing,  291,810  pieces  of  bedding,  and 
over  85,000  packages  of  fruit,  vegetables, 
jellies,  wine,  condensed  milk,  beef-stock, 
groceries,  pickles,  lemonade,  &c.,of  a  total 
value  of  $566,831.14,  beside  $35,551.38 
in  money.  The  supplies  thus  furnished 
are  distributed  with  great  care  to  avoid 
waste,  and  to  supplement  the  food,  cloth 
ing,  arid  medicines  which  the  Government 
is  bound  to  furnish — the  object  being  to 
do  what  the  Government  cannot,  and  to 
avoid  duplicating  its  supplies  of  what  it 


56 

can  and  should  furnish.  Care  is  exercised 
also  to  avoid  imposition,  while  no  sufferer 
in  need  is  allowed  to  suffer  when  the 
Commission  can  supply  his  wants.  The 
Commission  is  national  in  its  character, 
and  supplies  the  soldiers  of  one  State  as 
readily  as  those  of  another.  Nay,  more  : 
the  rebel  wounded,  when  left  on  the 
field,  or  in  temporary  hospitals  within 
the  Union  lines,  or  when  sent  to  camps 
and  hospitals  as  prisoners,  have  uniformly 
received  its  bounty  and  its  assiduous  care. 
It  has  had  in  this  matter,  at  times,  to  con 
tend,  both  among  the  people  and  on  the 
field,  with  that  exclusive  feeling  which 
would  limit  its  beneficence  to  the  soldiers 
of  a  single  State  or  regiment ;  but  often- 
est  the  agents  of  these  local  organizations 
have,  from  the  feeling  which  such  exclu- 
siveness  has  caused  among  the  soldiers, 
turned  their  stores  into  the  depots  of  the 
Commission,  and  themselves  aided  in  their 
distribution  to  the  soldiers,  without  dis 
tinction  of  locality.  The  Field  Relief 


57 

Superintendents,  already  mentioned,  who 
accompany  each  army  corps,  belong  to 
this  department  of  general  relief. 

III.  The  Department  of  Special  Relief. — 
This  department  is  under  the  general 
superintendence  of  Rev.  F.  N.  Knapp, 
Associate  Secretary  of  the  Commission 
for  the  East,  at  Washington,  and  of  Dr. 
J.  S.  Newberry,  Associate  Secretary  for 
the  West,  at  Louisville.  It  furnishes 
homes  to  soldiers,  where  shelter,  food,  and 
medical  care  and  general  superintendence 
are  furnished  for  those  soldiers  who  are 
not  yet  under  the  care  of  the  Government, 
or  have  just  got  out  of  their  care,  or  have 
somehow  lost  their  status  and  cannot  im 
mediately  regain  it — recruits,  or  men  on 
leave,  sick  leave  or  furlough,  going  to 
and  fro  ;  men  without  skill  to  care  for 
themselves,  ignorant,  underwitted,  or  vi 
cious  ;  men  discharged  prematurely  from 
the  hospitals ;  men  found  in  the  streets, 
or  left  behind  by  their  regiments.  Of 
these  classes,  about  2,300  are  accommo- 


58 

dated  daily  or  nightly  in  the  homes  of 
the  Commission  at  Washington,  Cincin 
nati,  Cairo,  Louisville,  Nashville,  Colum 
bus,  Cleveland,  and  New  Orleans. 

There  are  also  belonging  to  this  depart 
ment  five  lodges — homes  on  a  smaller 
scale — where  the  wearied  soldier,  sick 
or  feeble,  may  await  his  opportunity  of 
obtaining  his  pay,  from  the  Paymaster- 
General,  or  landing  sick  from  a  steamer 
or  cars,  and  unable  to  reach  the  hospital 
to  which  he  may  belong,  can  find  rest, 
food,  and  medical  care,  till  he  can  be 
transferred  to  the  hospital,  or  is  able  to 
rejoin  his  regiment.  There  are  now  two 
of  these  at  Washington,  one  at  Alexan 
dria,  one  at  Memphis,  and  one  at  Vicks- 
burg  ;  arid  others  are  established  tempo 
rarily,  as  occasion  may  require,  at  other 
points.  The  hospital  cars,  of  which  there 
are  several,  between  Washington  and  New 
York,  and  between  Louisville  and  Mur- 
freesboro',  Tennessee,  fitted  up  with  ham 
mocks  in  rubber  slings,  and  with  a  small 


59 

kitchen  for  preparing  the  necessary  food 
for  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  under  the 
charge  of  a  skillful  surgeon,  belong  to  this 
department;  as  do  also  the  Sanitary 
steamers,  the  Clara  Bell,  on  the  Missis 
sippi,  the  New  Dunleith,  on  the  Cumber 
land,  and  the  Elizabeth,  on  the  Potomac. 
These  aro  used  both  for  the  transmission 
of  necessary  supplies,  and  the  transpor 
tation  of  the  wounded.  In  this  depart 
ment,  also,  the  Commission  have  estab 
lished  agencies  at  Washington,  Philadel 
phia,  and  New  York,  for  obtaining  for  the 
soldiers,  and  their  families,  pensions,  boun 
ties,  back  pay,  transportation,  aid  in  cor 
recting  the  soldiers'  papers,  where  there 
are  errors  in  form,  or  recovering  them 
their  positions  when  they  have  wrong 
fully  been  set  down  as  deserters,  and  saving 
them  from  sharpers.  The  Commission 
have  also  established  Hospital  Directories 
at  Washington,  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
and  Louisville.  In  these  four  directories 
are  registered  the  names  of  all  soldiers  in 


GO 

the  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  hospi 
tals,  and  as  far  as  possible,  the  regimen 
tal  and  post  hospitals  throughout  the 
country,  and  these  are  constantly  receiv 
ing  additions  from  the  reports  sent  regu 
larly  from  such  hospitals.  By  applying 
to  these  Directories,  information  will  be 
furnished  to  friends  without  cost,  other 
than  that  of  postage  or  telegram,  of  the 
location  and  condition  of  any  soldier  who 
is  or  has  been  within  a  year,  an  inmate 
of  any  U.  S.  military  hospital.  At  the 
Washington  office  of  the  Commission,  the 
names  of  patients  in  the  hospitals  in  East 
ern  Virginia,  Maryland,  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Florida,  and  Louisiana,  are  recorded  ;  at 
Philadelphia,  those  in  Pennsylvania  hos 
pitals  ;  at  New  York,  those  in  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  New  England  ;  at  Louis 
ville,  those  in  Western  Virginia,  Ohio,  In 
diana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Arkansas. 
The  officers  in  charge  require  the  name, 


Gl 

rank,  company,  and  regiment  of  the  person 
inquired  for,  and  where  he  was  when  last 
heard  from.  About  550.000  names  have 
been  thus  recorded,  and  the  information 
afforded  by  these  directories  to  the  friends 
of  the  sick  and  wounded  has  been  of  in 
calculable  value,  often  leading  to  the  pre 
servation  of  life,  and  to  the  relief  of  that 
most  terrible  mental  anguish,  the  torture 
of  a  dread  uncertainty. 

Still  another  measure  of  special  relief, 
on  which  the  Commission  has  expended 
more  than  $30,000,  is  the  sending  of  sup 
plies,  so  long  as  it  was  permitted,  to  our 
soldiers  who  were  prisoners  at  Richmond, 
and  there  undergoing  the  terrors  of  cold, 
nakedness,  and  starvation.  It  also  sent 
on  every  flag-of-truce  boat  from  Fortress 
Monroe,  ample  stores  of  clothing,  cor 
dials,  nourishing  food,  medicine,  and  re 
storatives,  for  the  poor  fellows  who  were 
exchanged,  and  who,  but  for  this  timely 
relief,  would  have  many  of  them  died  on 
the  voyage.  It  has  organized  a  system 
6 


62 

of  furnishing  fresh  supplies  to  the  hospi 
tals  around  Washington  at  prime  cost, 
which  it  brings  from  Philadelphia  in  arc 
tic  cars,  thus  preventing  frauds  and  the 
commissions  formerly  obtained  by  the 
hospital  stewards,  and  furnishing  more 
and  better  supplies  to  the  inmates  of  the 
hospitals  for  less  money.  It  has  caused 
reforms  to  be  instituted  in  our  own  con 
valescent  and  parole  camps,  and  in  the 
prison  camps  of  the  rebels,  which  our 
Government  hold  as  prisoners,  promoting 
the  health  and  comfort  of  both  in  every 
possible  way.  Its  agents  and  superin 
tendents  have  often  brought  off  men  un 
der  fire  from  the  battle-field,  and  four  of 
them  were  taken  prisoners  by  the  rebels, 
after  Gettysburg,  and  notwithstanding 
the  kindnesses  bestowed  by  the  Commis 
sion  on  rebels,  wounded  and  prisoners, 
were  subjected  to  the  meagre  fare  and  in 
tolerable  filth  of  Libby  prison  and  Castle 
Thunder,  for  months,  when  two  of  them 
were  finally  released  on  parole. 


63 

In  these  labors  it  has  constantly  had 
the  aid  and  co-operation  of  the  Medical 
Department,  and  where  it  could  be  be 
stowed,  that  of  the  Quartermaster's  De 
partment,  and  the  generals  and  command 
ing  officers  in  the  field  have,  almost 
without  exception,  given  it  their  hearty 
sanction  and  assistance.  Without  these, 
its  work  would  have  been  fourfold  more 
expensive  than  it  has,  bu>  even  with  this 
assistance,  it  has  necessarily  had  to  incur 
large  expenditures,  and  has  distributed 
supplies  to  an  immense  value.  At  the 
commencement  of  its  work,  when  it  was 
expected  that  the  war  would  be  a  brief 
one  it  made  its  appeals  to  the  public  for 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  a  sum  which  it  was 
thought  would  suffice  to  accomplish  its 
purposes ;  but  with  the  increasing  pro 
portions  of  the  war,  increasing  means 
were  found  necessary.  While,  of  most 
descriptions  of  supplies,  their  stock  de 
rived  from  the  branches  was  ample,  there 
were  some,  such  as  the  best  qualities  of 


6J- 

wines  and  brandies,  quinine,  &c.,  which 
could  only  be  obtained  by  cash  purchases. 
The  transportation  of  their  supplies, 
though  much  of  it  was  given  by  railroad 
companies,  was  still  very  expensive,  while 
the  maintenance  of  their  homes,  lodges, 
offices  and  directories,  required  a  heavy 
outlay.  The  Commission,  as  such,  re 
ceived  no  compensation,  and  of  its  offi 
cers,  the  President,  Vice-President,  and 
Treasurer,  received  no  pay ;  while  the 
Associate  Secretary  for  the  West,  the 
only  other  member  of  the  Commission 
now  in  service  (except  the  Executive 
Committee),  having  left  his  residence  and 
practice  at  Cleveland  for  Louisville  in  the 
Commission's  service,  has  a  moderate 
salary.  The  Commission  has  regarded 
it  necessary  for  the  proper  performance 
of  its  extensive,  varied,  and  onerous 
duties,  to  employ  paid  agents,  and  has  in 
its  employ  about  200  ;  to  none  of  them 
are  salaries  paid  so  large  as  they  could 
receive  in  other  business,  but  they  re- 


65 

main  in  the  work  because  they  love  it. 
The  aggregate  of  salaries  is  now  about 
$15,000  per  month,  and  of  other  expen 
ses  from  $30,000  to  $35,000  per  month, 
making  a  total  sum  of  $45,000  to 
$50,000  per  month.  The  expenditure  of 
supplies  varies  with  the  occurrence  of 
great  battles.  During,  and  immediately 
after,  the  battles  at  Gettysburg,  supplies 
to  the  value  of  $75,000  were  distributed 
there.  To  the  army  of  the  Cumberland, 
within  ten  days  after  the  disastrous  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  6,000  packages  were 
sent ;  and  immediately  after  Chattanooga, 
5,000  packages  and  boxes  went  forward. 
The  receipts  of  the  Commission,  from 
its  organization  in  June,  1861,  to  March, 
]  864, have  been  in  money  $1,133,628.28  ; 
of  this  amount  nearly  $700,000  has  been 
received  from  the  States  and  territories  on 
the  Pacific  slope,  including  about  $550,000 
from  California  alone.  Aside  from  this, 
its  branches  have  received  in  money  to 
March  1,  1864,  about  $650,000,  which  has 
6* 


66 

been  expended  in  the  purchase  of  supplies, 
in  local  relief,  and  in  the  support  of 
establishments  of  special  relief  under 
their  direct  charge.  The  value  of  sup 
plies  contributed  cannot  of  course  be 
exactly  ascertained  ;  it  has,  however,  been 
estimated  as  carefully  as  possible,  and 
considerably  exceeds  $7, 000, 000. 

During  the  autumn  and  winter  of 
1863-4,  a  series  of  Fairs  have  been  held 
in  several  of  the  principal  cities  of  the 
Union,  in  the  interest  of  the  Commission 
arid  its  branches.  These  fairs  have  been 
more  gigantic  in  their  conception  and 
execution,  and  have  yielded  larger  returns 
than  any  enterprises  of  the  kind  ever 
attempted  in  this  country.  The  first  of 
these  was  held  at  Chicago,  and  its  de 
velopment  and  magnificent  success  was 
due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  energy  and 
executive  ability  of  Mrs.  A.  H.  Hoge, 
and  Mrs.  D.  P.  Livermore,  the  leading 
spirits  in  the  Chicago  branch  of  the  Com 
mission,  or  as  it  is  now  officially  known, 


67 

the  Northwestern  Sanitary  Commission. 
The  Executive  Committee  visited  the 
principal  cities  and  large  towns  of  North 
ern  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa,  and 
aroused  an  intense  enthusiasm  for  the  work. 
Contributions  poured  in  from  all  quar 
ters,  and  as  a  renewed  manifestation  of 
the  patriotism  and  loyalty  of  the  North 
west,  the  Fair  was  worth  infinitely  more 
than  it  cost.  The  gross  proceeds,  when 
the  account  is  completely  closed,  will 
fall  but  little  short  of  $100,000,  and  will 
yield  a  net  result  of  about  $85,000.  This 
branch  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  has 
been  inferior  to  no  other  in  efficiency. 
It  has  furnished,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  war  to  January,  1864,  over  $J, 500, 000 
value  of  supplies,  besides  raising  large 
amounts  of  money,  which  have  been 
mostly  expended  in  the  purchase  of  sup 
plies  and  the  support  of  the  Cairo  Agency 
and  Home  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers. 
The  next  of  these  great  Fairs  was  held 
in  Boston,  and  awakened  anew  the  en- 


68 

husiasm  of  the  people  of  the  Old  Bay 
State,  an  enthusiasm  which  has  not  ma 
terially  flagged  from  the  first  moment 
of  the  war.  The  net  receipts,  thus  far 
(the  account  is  not  yet  closed),  have  been 
about  $140,000.  To  this  succeeded  one 
at  Cincinnati,  which  called  forth  the  ener 
gies  of  the  people  of  the  Ohio  Valley, 
and  resulted  in  a  great  success  not  only 
financially  but  in  the  increase  of  patriotic 
fervor.  The  gross  receipts  were  over 
$263,000,  and  the  net  proceeds  about 
$240,000.  Fairs  for  the  same  purpose 
were  held  soon  after  at  Albany,  at  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.,  and  at  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  the 
net  proceeds  of  the  first  (the  only  one 
which  has  reported)  were  about  $80,000. 

On  the  22d  of  February  a  Fair  was  open 
ed  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  to  which  the  peo 
ple  of  Long  Island  generally  contributed. 
Its  gross  receipts  were  $425,000,  and 
the  net  amount  realized  was  $400,000. 
The  Metropolitan  Fair,  to  commence  in 
New  York  city  on  the  ^8th  of  March, 


69 

wi.l,  it  is  believed,  eclipse  in  the  vastness 
of  its  receipts,  all  of  those  which  have 
preceded  it,  arid  perhaps  yield  an  amount 
greater  than  the  aggregate  of  the  whole. 
It  has  enlisted  the  sympathies,  the  contri 
butions,  and  the  earnest  labor  of  all 
classes.  These  Fairs  prove  conclusively 
that  the  people,  so  far  from  being  wearied 
of  the  war,  and  tired  of  making  sacrifices 
for  it,  are  only  now  beginning  to  realize 
its  magnitude,  and  to  contribute  in  some 
proportion  to  their  means,  to  its  needs. 
The  unanimity  of  sentiment  which  pre 
vails  among  the  masses  as  to  the  necessity 
of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  to 
the  utter  overthrow  of  the  rebellion,  has 
been,  from  the  first,  the  controlling  mo 
tive  in  these  liberal  sacrifices  for  the  sol 
diers. 

But  vast  as  the  resources  and  expen 
diture  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Com 
mission,  and  much  as  it  has  done  for  the 
army,  it  has  not  acted  alone  in  these  mea 
sures  of  relief  and  solace  The  Western 


70 

Sanitary  Commission,  whose  headquarters 
are  at  St.  Louis,  an  organization  wholly 
distinct  from  the  one  already  described, 
has  borne  an  honorable  part  in  the  work 
of  providing  for  the  wants  of  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  on  the  field,  in  camp, 
and  post,  and  general  hospitals,  and  on 
the  hospital  steamers,  on  the  Mississippi, 
Tennessee,  and  Cumberland  rivers.  Like 
the  United  States  Commission,  it  knows 
no  State  boundaries,  but  ministers  alike 
to  the  soldiers  wrho  come  from  the  East 
and  the  West,  although  from  its  location 
it  has  ministered  only  to  the  western  ar 
mies.  It  derived  its  first  authority  to  act 
from  the  following  order  of  Major-General 
Fremont  : 

HEADQUARTERS,  WESTERN  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Sept.  5,  1861.         f 

SPECIAL  ORDERS,  No.  159. 

With  a  view  to  the  health  and  comfort 
of  the  Volunteer  troops  in  and  near  to 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  a  Sanitary  Commis- 


sion  is  hereby  appointed,  to  consist  of 
five  gentlemen,  who  shall  serve  volun 
tarily,  and  be  removable  at  pleasure.  Its 
general  object  shall  be  to  carry  out,  under 
the  properly-constituted  military  authori 
ties,  and  in  compliance  with  their  orders, 
such  sanitary  regulations  and  reforms  as 
the  well-being  of  the  soldiers  demand. 

The  Commission  shall  have  authority 
under  the  directions  of  the  Medical  Director, 
to  select,  fit  up,  and  furnish  suitable 
buildings  for  Army  and  Brigade  Hos 
pitals,  in  such  place,  and  in  such  manner 
as  circumstances  require.  It  will  attend 
to  the  selection  and  appointment  of  wo 
men  nurses,  under  the  authority  and  by 
the  direction  of  Miss  D.  L.  Dix,  General 
Superintendent  of  the  nurses  of  Military 
Hospitals  in  the  United  States.  It  will 
co-operate  with  the  Surgeons  of  the 
several  hospitals  in  providing  male  nurses, 
and  in  whatever  manner  practicable,  and 
by  their  consent.  It  shall  have  authority 
to  visit  the  different  camps,  to  consult 


72 

with  the  commanding  officers,  and  the 
Colonels  and  other  officers  of  the  several 
regiments,  with  regard  to  the  sanitary 
and  general  condition  of  the  troops,  and 
aid  them  in  providing  proper  means  for 
the  preservation  of  health  and  prevention 
of  sickness,  by  supplies  of  wholesome 
and  well-cooked  food,  by  good  systems  of 
drainage,  and  other  practicable  methods 
It  will  obtain  from  the  community  at 
large  such  additional  means  of  increasing 
the  comfort  and  promoting  the  moral  and 
social  welfare  of  the  men,  in  camp  and 
hospital,  as  may  be  needed,  and  cannot 
be  furnished  by  Government  regulations. 
It  will,  from  time  to  time,  report  directly 
to  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  depart 
ment,  the  condition  of  the  camps  and 
hospitals,  with  such  suggestions  as  can 
properly  be  made  by  a  Sanitary  Board. 

This  Commission  is  not  intended  in  any 
way  to  interfere  with  the  Medical  Staff, 
or  other  officers  of  the  army,  but  to  co 
operate  with  them,  and  aid  them  in  the 


73 

discharge  of  their  present  arduous  and 
extraordinary  duties.  It  will  be  treated 
by  all  officers  of  the  army,  both  regular 
and  volunteer,  in  this  Department,  with 
the  respect  due  to  the  humane  and 
patriotic  motives  of  the  members,  and 
to  the  authority  of  the  Commander-in- 
chief. 

This  Sanitary  Commission  will,  for  the 
present,  consist  of  Jas.  E.  Yeatman, 
ESq. ;  C.  S.  Greeley,  Esq. ;  J.  B.  John 
son,  M.  D. ;  George  Partridge,  Esq.;  and 
the  Rev.  William  G.  Eliot.  D.  D. 

By  order  of  Major-General  JOHN  C. 
FREMONT. 

J.  C.  KELTOX, 

Assistant  Adjutant-  General. 

The  authority  conferred  by  this  order 
was  recognized  and  confirmed  by  Major- 
General  Halleck,  who  added  Dr.  S. 
Pollak  to  the  Commission,  and  still  later, 
viz.,  December  10,  1S02,  by  an  order 
from  the  Secretary  of  War  (Hon.  E.  M. 
7 


74 

Stanton),  extending  the  field  of  its  labors, 
and  reappointing  the  members  of  the 
Commission  as  at  first  constituted. 

This  Commission  has  not  devoted  its 
attention  to  as  wide  a  range  of  topics  as 
the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission, 
but  has  confined  itself  to  the  work  of 
superintending  hospitals,  furnishing  sup 
plies,  appointing  nurses,  visiting  and 
caring  for  the  sick  and  wounded  of  the 
army  of  the  Southwest  Frontier,  the  Dis 
trict  of  East  Arkansas,  the  armies  opera 
ting  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  Mississippi  Naval  Flotilla ;  it  has  at 
all  times  acted  in  concert  with  the  Medi 
cal  Directors  and  Inspectors  of  these  ar 
mies,  and  on  account  of  their  efficient 
supervision  of  the  condition  and  sanitary 
w^ants  of  the  armies  under  their  charge, 
has  not  found  it  necessary  to  appoint 
separate  medical  inspectors.  It  has  the 
superintendence  of  twelve  hospitals  (one 
for  officers  and  another  for  military  prison 
ers),  having  accommodations  for  about 


75 

eight  thousand  patients,  besides  ten  large 
hospital  steamers  and  floating  hospitals; 
it  has  established  Soldiers'  Homes,  and 
Soldiers'  Lodges,  at  St.  Louis,  Memphis, 
and  Columbus,  Ky.,  and  agencies  at  He 
lena,  Milliken's  Bend,  and  Springfield, 
Mo.  and  has  prepared,  published  and  dis 
tributed,  a  large  edition  of  a  "  Treatise  on 
the  Preservation  of  the  Health  of  the 
Soldier,  the  cooking  of  food,  the  prepara 
tion  of  diet  for  the  sick,  the  duties  of 
nurses  and  attendants,  and  the  organiza 
tion  and  general  management  of  Hospi 
tals."  It  has,  during  the  year  past,  given 
special  attention  to  the  necessities  of  the 
freedmen  in.  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and 
its  officers  have  interested  themselves  in 
the  adjustment  of  wages,  and  in  securing 
just  and  considerate  treatment  of  the 
emancipated  slaves  from  those  who  have 
rented  the  plantations,  which  had  been 
abandoned  by  Rebel  owners.  The  com 
mission  have  expended  about  $40,000  in 
the  relief  of  freedmen.  It  has  also  kept 


76 

a  registry  of  the  location  and  condition 
of  invalid  and  wounded  soldiers  in  the 
Western  armies. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  war 
to  May  1,  186-3,  this  Commission  had  re 
ceived  cash  donations  to  the  amount  of 
$151,381.18,  and  sanitary  stores  and 
supplies  of  the  estimated  value  of  $395,- 
335.96,  making  a  total  of  $546,716.14, 
and  the  expenses  incurred  in  the  collec 
tion  and  distribution  of  this  large  amount 
were  only  $8,848.86,  or  If  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  amount  received  and  distribu 
ted.  The  amount  of  cash  and  sanitary 
stores  received  since  that  time,  make  the 
aggregate  of  its  receipts,  to  March  1, 
1864,  about  $1 ,750,000  since  the  war  com 
menced.  This  Commission  will  hold  at 
St.  Louis,  daring  the  spring  of  the  pres 
ent  year,  a  large  Fair,  to  replenish  its 
treasury,  and  its  abundant  and  useful  la 
bors  give  good  reason  to  hope  that;  it  will 
elicit  large  contributions  from  the  patri 
otic  citizens  of  the  country. 


77 


CHAPTER    IV. 

OTHER  SANITARY  COMMISSIONS. — THE  IOWA  STATE  SANI 
TARY  COMMISSION. — THE  INDIANA  STATE  SANITARY 
COMMISSION. — SIMILAR  ORGANIZATIONS  ELSEWHERE. — 
THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOLDIERS'  RELIEF  ASSOCIATION. — 
STATE  AND  OTHER  RELIEF  ASSOCIATIONS  NOT  CONNEC 
TED  WITH  THE  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS. — STATE 
AGENCIES  AT  NEW  YORK,  PHILADELPHIA,  WASHING 
TON,  LOUISVILLE,  AND  ELSEWHERE. — THE  LADIES'  AID 
SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA.— CITIZENS'  VOLUNTEER 
HOSPITAL  AT  PHILADELPHIA.— THE  USE  OF  HOSPITALS 
DONATED  ELSEWHERE. — : AMBULANCES  FOR  SICK  AND 
WOUNDED  SOLDIERS,  BUILT  AND  MAINTAINED  BY  PHILA 
DELPHIA  FIREMEN.— INDIVIDUAL  CONTRIBUTIONS  TO 
SOLDIERS  IN  HOSPITALS  AND  ON  THE  FIELD,  NOT  CON 
NECTED  WITH  ANY  OF  THESE  ORGANIZATIONS. 

Two  or  three  of  the  Western  States 
have  established  organizations  dependent 
partly  upon  legislative  grants,  and  partly 
upon  contributions,  for  the  care  of  the  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers  of  their  respective 
States,  and  their  families,  to  which  they 
have,  unwisely  as  it  seems  to  us,  given 
the  name  of  u  State  Sanitary  Commis 
sions."  There  should  not  be,  and  with 
most  of  these  agencies  there  is  not,  any 
7* 


78 

recognition  of  State  lines  in  the  distribu 
tion  of  supplies  to  the  soldiers  who  have 
succumbed  to  disease  or  wounds  in  fight 
ing  our  national  battles,  or  serving  in  our 
national  armies.  They  are  all  soldiers  of 
our  common  republic,  and  it  is  a  matter 
of  no  moment  whether  their  local  alle 
giance  is  due  to  a  State  on  the  west 
ern,  northern,  or  eastern  frontier,  or  in 
the  States  which  constitute  the  heart  of 
the  body  politic.  There  are,  however, 
services  which  may  be  more  appropriate 
ly  rendered  to  a  soldier  by  his  own  State, 
or  its  representatives,  than  by  others  ; 
such  as  the  furnishing  means  of  reaching 
home  during  a  furlough,  or  of  reaching 
his  regiment  when  he  has  been  detained 
from  it  by  sickness  ;  the  procuring  of  the 
allotment  of  his  pay  or  bounty,  or  the 
rendering  him  contented  by  care  for  his 
family.  In  these,  and  many  other  ways, 
a  State  organization  may  do  much  to  in 
crease  the  soldier's  efficiency  and  comfort. 
The  Indiana  State  Sanitary  Commission, 


79 

fostered  and  prompted  by  lie  energetic 
and  patriotic  Governor  of  that  State,  has 
accomplished  much  good  in  this  way,  and 
up  to  February,  1864,  has  expended 
$320,000  in  its  succor  of  Indiana  soldiers. 
The  Iowa  State  Sanitary  Commission  has 
been  also  very  efficient.  It  has  expended 
$175,500  to  February  1,  1864.  An  or 
ganization  of  a  similar  character,  though 
we  believe  not  with  the  same  name,  ex 
ists  in  Wisconsin,  having  originated  with 
the  late  lamented  Governor,  Louis  P. 
Harvey,  who  lost  his  life  in  a  journey  to 
the  field  of  Shiloh,  to  distribute  its  boun 
ties.  It  has  contributed  largely  to  the 
aid  of  the  soldiers,  and  its  benefactions 
have  not  been  confined  to  those  from 
Wisconsin.  In  Illinois,  there  is  an  officer 
called  a  Commissioner-General,  whose 
function  it  is  to  collect  stores  arid  supplies 
from  the  towns  and  counties  of  the  State 
and  send  them  forward  for  distribution, 
after  each  great  battle.  In  New  York,  a 
State  Soldiers'  Depot  was  established  in 


80 

July,  1863,  in  Howard  street,  New  York 
city,  and  received  an  appropriation  from 
the  State  Legislature  of  $200,000,  which 
combines  the  character  of  a  Soldiers' Home, 
hospital,  and  reading-room,  and  has  its 
couriers  on  each  train  on  which  New  York 
and  other  soldiers  come  from  the  army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  meets  them  coming 
from  other  points,  by  steamers  or  other 
wise,  cares  for  the  comfort  of  the  sick  and 
wounded,  administering,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  its  surgeon,  cordials  and  nutri 
ment  while  in  transit,  protects  them  from 
the  sharpers  who  would  plunder  them 
and  in  every  way  looks  after  their  inter 
ests.  It  has  expended  since  its  organiza 
tion  in  June,  1863,  about  $65,000  in 
money,  and  has  distributed  clothing,  &c., 
to  the  amount  of  over  $10,000  more.  It 
lias  fed  and  lodged  over  15,000  soldiers, 
and  given  aid  and  counsel  to  thousands 
more.  The  plan  for  establishing  national 
cemeteries  in  the  vicinity  of  our  great 
battle-fields,  at  Gettysburg,  Antietam, 


81 

Chattanooga,  &c.,  has  been  greatly  pro 
moted  by  its  earnest  advocacy. 

One  of  the  best,  as  it  is  really  one  of 
the  most  national,  of  the  institutions  of 
this  class,  is  "  The  New  England  Soldiers' 
Relief  Association,"  located  at  194  Broad 
way,  New  York,  and  organized  April  3, 
1 862.  Its  founders  and  supporters  were 
New  England  men  and  women,  but  its 
doors  have  been  opened  to,  and  its  chari 
ties  lavished  upon,  the  soldiers  of  every 
State.  That  a  soldier  was  on  furlough, 
or  sick  or  wounded,  discharged,  or  in 
trouble,  has  been  ever  a  sufficient  pass 
port  to  its  halls,  and  its  sympathies. 
Since  its  organization,  it  has  received,  re 
gistered,  lodged,  fed,  aided,  and  clothed 
sick  and  wounded  or  disabled  soldiers 
from  thirty-one  States,  the  District  of 
Columbia,  the  regular  army,  the  navy, 
and  the  Invalid  Corps,  to  the  number  of 
about  45,000,  and  has  fed  or  lodged,  and 
rendered  assistance  to  many  thousands 
more,  who  were  not  sick,  wounded,  or 


82 

abled.  It  has  a  Hospital  Record  and  Di 
rectory,  very  full  arid  complete,  of  the  in 
mates  of  all  the  military  hospitals  of  New 
York  and  New  England,  which  is  kept  up 
to  date  by  daily  reports  from  each  hospital, 
and  gives  full  particulars  in  regard  to  the 
location,  condition, and  final  disposition  of 
each  patient.  This  register  contains  about 
40,000  names,  and  is  so  complete  that 
the  Sanitary  Commission,  in  February, 
1864,  relinquished  theirs  for  that  Depart 
ment,  in  its  favor.  It  has  an  excellent 
hospital  for  the  sick  or  wounded  soldier, 
with  a  skillful  surgeon,  careful  attend 
ants,  and  assiduous  volunteer  night 
watchers ;  furnishes  an  asylum  to  those 
unfortunate  soldiers  who,  discharged  from 
the  service  without  means,  find  them 
selves  homeless  and  shelterless,  giving 
them  a  home  till  employment  can  be  pro 
vided  for  them.  It  also  interests  itself  in 
procuring  transportation,  bounties,  and 
back  pay  for  the  soldiers,  and  furnishing 
information  to  the  friends  of  those  who 


83 

are  sick,  or  have  died,  relative  to  procur 
ing  their  dues.  Religious  services  are 
conducted  every  Sabbath  at  its  rooms. 
Since  August,  1863,  it  has  had  two  cou 
riers  at  the  expense  of  the  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  running  between  New  York 
and  Washington,  and  caring  for  all  sol 
diers  in  the  cars.  The  work  of  the  As 
sociation  has  been  conducted  with  a  very 
small  money  expenditure,  only  about 
$28,000  in  cash  having  been  received  by 
its  Treasurer.  It-  has,  however,  received 
very  considerable  amounts  of  supplies  of 
clothing,  food,  delicacies  for  the  sick,  &c., 
&c.,  probably  to  a  value  not  less  than 
$200,000.  It  could,  however,  make  a 
good  use  of  a  much  larger  amount.  Much 
of  the  service  rendered,  including  that  of 
the  Superintendent,  is  voluntary,  and 
without  compensation.  Indeed,  the  Su 
perintendent  has,  in  addition,  paid  large 
Sums  from  his  own  pocket,  for  the  relief 
of  soldiers,  in  cases  where  such  relief 
could  not  properly  come  from  the  State 


84 

funds,  or  the  funds  of  the  Association. 
Colonel  F.  E.  Howe,  the  Superintendent 
of  this  Association,  acts  also  in  the  ca 
pacity  of  State  Military  Agent  for  the 
States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Ver 
mont,  Massachusetts,  Wisconsin,  Minne 
sota,  and  Indiana,  and  is  authorized  to 
render  such  assistance  as  may  be  needed 
to  the  soldiers  of  those  States  coming  to 
New  York. 

Most  of  the  other  loyal  States  have 
military  agents  at  New  York,  and  some 
of  them  at  Philadelphia.  At  Washington, 
each  of  the  loyal  States,  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  has  a  representative  body, 
composed  of  citizens  of  those  States,  re 
sident  temporarily  or  permanently  at 
the  capital.  Members  of  Congress,  &c., 
who  interest  themselves  in  the  welfare  of 
the  soldiers  of  their  respective  States, 
raise  money  among  themselves,  and  col 
lect  supplies  from  their  States,  which  are 
distributed  in  the  hospitals  around  Wash 
ington,  or  in  many  cases  sent  to  the  front, 


85 

before,  during,  or  after  a  battle.  The 
Sanitary  Commission  has  now  become 
the  almoner  of  some  of  these  organiza 
tions,  as  from  its  peculiar  facilities  it 
might  well  do  with  all  of  them  ;  but  prior 
to  July,  1863,  they  had  distributed  in 
money  and  stores,  the  amount,  as  estima 
ted,  of  $1,030,000.  There  have  been  also 
similar  State  agencies  connected  with 
most  of  the  Western  States,  at  Louis 
ville,  Nashville,  St.  Louis,  &c. 

There  have  been  a  few  Ladies'  Aid  So 
cieties  which  have  not  affiliated  them 
selves  with  either  the  United  States  Sani 
tary  Commission  or  its  branches,  or  the 
Western  Sanitary  Commission,  preferring, 
for  some  reason,  independent  action. 
Prominent  among  them  is  the  Ladies'  Aid 
Society  of  Philadelphia,  an  association 
organized  on  the  26th  of  April,  1861,  and 
which  has  labored  assiduously  from  that 
time  to  the  present,  promoting  by  every 
means  in  its  power  the  physical  and 
moral  welfare  of  the  soldier.  It  has  a 
8 


86 

number  of  auxiliaries  in  the  State,  and 
has  had  its  efficient  Secretary,  Mrs.  John 
Harris,  in  the  field  and  ministering  in  per 
son  to  the  wants  of  the  sick  and  suffering 
soldiers,  with,  for  the  most  part,  two  or 
three  assistants,  since  the  first  battles  on 
the  Peninsula  in  the  spring  of  1 862.  It 
had  expended  in  money,  to  November  1, 
1863,  $19,380,  and  had  sent  from  the 
Philadelphia  office,  food,  clothing,  &c.,  to 
the  value  of  over  $60,000,  besides  other 
supplies  sent  direct  from  various  points 
to  Mrs.  Harris,  to  an  aggregate  amount  of 
probably  not  far  from  $200,000.  The 
Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  Hartford,  Connec 
ticut,  has  been  another  association  which 
has  acted  independently,  and  has  expend 
ed  about  $20,000  in  money  and  over 
$50,000  in  supplies.  In  most  of  the  larger 
cities  there  have  been  associations  of  a 
similar  character,  which  have  either  dis 
tributed  their  food,  clothing,  &c.,  by  spe 
cial,  and  usually  unpaid  agents,  or  have 
forwarded  them  to  some  of  the  State  or- 


87 

ganizations — at  Washington,  Louisville, 
&c.,  or  have  consigned  them  to  individu 
als  engaged  in  this  work  in  the  army,  or 
at  prominent  points.  The  aggregate 
amount  of  such  contributions  is  large, 
though  composed  of  a  thousand  little  rills. 
The  aggregate  sent  to  Washington  and 
its  vicinity,  including  Baltimore,  up  to 
July,  1863,  was  ascertained  by  careful 
inquiry  to  be  somewhat  more  than 
$1,350,000,  and  to  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis, 
Louisville.  Cairo,  Nashville,  Memphis  and 
New  Orleans,  to  not  less  than  $1,500,000. 
The  amount  of  supplies  of  delicacies, 
extra  food,  cordials,  clothing,  and  bed 
ding  furnished  to  temporary  and  perma 
nent  military  hospitals,  aside  from  those 
furnished  by  the  Sanitary  Commissions, 
has  been  very  large.  In  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1862,  the  civil  hospitals  of  the 
northern  cities  were  filled  to  overflowing 
with  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  numer 
ous  churches,  barracks,  and  other  build 
ings  were  temporarily  used  for  hospital 


88 

purposes,  and  the  resources  of  the  Medi 
cal  and  Quartermaster's  Bureaux  were 
completely  drained  in  supplying  hospital 
clothing  and  furniture,  and  ordinary  pro 
visions  and  medicines,  long  before  the 
half  were  fully  supplied.  Contributions 
poured  in  freely  from  the  people  of  what 
was  needed,  and  kitchens  were  establish 
ed  in  connection  with  most  of  the  hospi 
tals,  in  which  ladies  of  the  highest  social 
position,  in  their  turns,  served  and  pre 
pared  the  delicacies  which  would  be  most 
grateful  to  the  sick.  Papers,  periodicals, 
books,  stationery  and  postage  were  fur 
nished  in  liberal  quantities  to  the  conva 
lescent,  and  letters  written  to  the  friends 
of  the  patients  by  these  volunteer  nurses. 
After  the  Government  had  established  its 
own  permanent  hospitals  (though  a  con 
siderable  number  of  them  were  hospital 
buildings  furnished  rent  free  by  cities  or 
towns)  the  same  course  was  pursued  in 
most  of  them,  but  in  a  considerable  num 
ber  the  supplies  were  furnished  by  the 


89 

Sanitary  Commission.    The  value  of  these 
supplies  furnished    by  private   hands   to 
several  of  these  hospitals,  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Washington,  has  been 
carefully  ascertained,  and  averaging   the 
expenditure  as  proportioned  to  the  inmates 
of  most  of  the   hospitals  of  the   period 
(some  fared  better  and    few  worse)    the 
contributions  for  this  purpose  could  not 
have  been  less  in  value  than  $2,200,000- 
One  of  these  hospitals,  now  under  the 
charge  of  the  Government,  originated  in 
the  philanthropic  spirit  of  the  citizens  of 
that  portion   of  Philadelphia  residing  in 
the  vicinity  of    the    Baltimore  station- 
house,  in  Broad  street.     After  the  great 
battles  before  Washington,  in  the  summer 
of     1862,     trains,    freighted    with    the 
wounded,  poured  into  Philadelphia,  and 
no  provisions  having  been  made  for  their 
quiet  and  speedy  transfer  to  the  hospitals, 
most  of  which  were   at  considerable  dis 
tance,  they  were  temporarily  placed  in 
churches,    or    the     station-house,    often 


90 

greatly  to  their  discomfort,  and  some 
times  with  a  fatal  result.  The  citizens 
of  the  vicinity,  a  large  portion  of  them 
mechanics,  laboring  by  day  in  the  busy 
manufactories  of  that  vicinity,  were 
greatly  distressed  at  witnessing  this  suf 
fering,  and  resolved,  though  with  but  very 
small  available  means,  to  erect  near  the 
station-house  a  hospital  for  the  temporary 
accommodation  of  sick  and  wounded  sol 
diers.  A  landholder  generously  gave  them 
the  use  of  some  vacant  lots  on  the  corner 
of  Broad  and  Prince  streets  ;  others  con 
tributed  lumber,  furniture,  heating  ap 
paratus,  bath-tubs,  and  some,  money. 
One  poor  Irishman  wheeled  a  half- worn 
stove  to  the  new  hospital.  "He  had 
nothing  else  to  give,"  he  said,  "  and  must 
do  something  for  the  sogers."  The  hos 
pital  was  erected,  and  furnished  with  five 
hundred  beds  in  fifteen  days,  at  a  cost  of 
over  $9,000.  It  was  subsequently  en 
larged,  so  as  to  give  accommodations  for 
seven  hundred  beds,  and  has,  ii?  addition. 


91 

two  kitchens,  bath-rooms,  and  a  large 
dining-room.  It  has  received  over  2,500 
patients  in  a  day,  and  has  lodged  more 
than  700  at  night.  Nearly  40,000  sol 
diers  have  been  admitted  since  it  was 
opened.  It  has  received,  in  money,  about 
$23,300  to  March  1,  1864,  and  expended 
about  $20,000.  It  has  received  also  in 
clothing,  food,  liquors,  and  delicacies,  not 
less  than  $30,000. 

The  feeling  of  sympathy  and  patriot 
ism  which  has  actuated  the  masses  of  the 
people,  manifested  itself  in  numberless 
instances  of  thoughtfulriess  and  tender 
ness,  even  from  classes,  among  whom  it 
was  hardly  to  be  looked  for.  A  memor 
able  example  of  this  occurred  in  Philadel 
phia,  where,  when  the  wounded  were 
brought  to  the  city,  and  carried,  not  per 
haps  so  gently  as  they  might  have  been, 
in  hired  conveyances,  to  the  hospitals,  the 
firemen  said  to  each  other  :  "  These  poor 
fellows  deserve  tenderer  care  and  handling 


92 

than  they  will  receive  from  hired  hack- 
men  ;  we  will  build  ambulances  for  them, 
and  carry  them  to  the  hospitals  ourselves." 
To  this  thoughtfulness  it  is  owing  that 
there  are  now  twenty-six  of  these  am 
bulances,  luxurious  affairs,  costing  from 
$500  to  $800  each,  drawn  by  two  horses, 
and  kept  always  ready  in  the  engine 
houses  of  the  fire  companies  for  the  trans 
portation  of  sick  and  wounded,  and  that 
in  these  they  are  carried,  attended  by  fire 
men,  and  handled  as  gently  as  a  mother 
would  handle  her  infant,  to  the  hospitals, 
and  without  any  compensation. 

The  individual  contributions  to  the  be 
nefit  of  the  soldiers  and  their  families,  not 
coming  into  the  treasury  of  any  organiza 
tion,  were  in  the  aggregate  of  vast 
amount ;  how  vast  can  never  be  known, 
even  with  approximate  accuracy,  but  that 
they  must  have  risen  to  millions  of  money 
or  money  value,  is  past  question.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  wrhen  great 
numbers  of  clerks  and  mechanics  enlisted 


93 

for  three  months  in  the  militia  regiments, 
their  employers,  with  very  few  excep 
tions,  voluntarily  offered  to  pay,  and  did 
pay,  their  salaries  during  their  absence, 
and  restored  them  to  their  positions  on 
their  return.  The  same  thing  occurred, 
though  not  to  quite  the  same  extent,  in 
the  summer  of  1862  and  1863,  in  both 
which  seasons  the  militia  of  New  York, 
Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  and  other  cities 
were  called  out.  One  of  the  wealthiest 
citizens  of  New  York,  Cornelius  Vander-. 
bilt,  Esq.,  presented  to  the  Government 
his  magnificent  steamship  the  "  Vander- 
bilt,"  which  had  cost  him  over  a  million 
of  dollars,  and  was  at  that  time  worth  in 
cash,  $800,000.  Several  of  the  great  ex 
press  lines  offered  to  carry  goods  intended 
for  the  soldiers,  free  ;  others  reduced  their 
prices  on  such  goods  one-half,  and  through 
out  the  war,  sanitary  stores  and  the  agents 
and  delegates  of  the  Sanitary  and  Chris 
tian  Commissions  have  been  very  gene 
rally,  we  might  almost  say  universally, 


94 

carried  free  over  the  principal  railroads  of 
the  country,  and  the  messages  of  both 
have  been  borne  on  the  telegraph  lines 
without  charge. 

The  supplying  of  the  wants  of  the  fam 
ilies  of  the  soldiers,  has  been  to  a  large 
extent  a  work  of  private  beneficence, 
and  has  involved  the  payment  of  much 
larger  sums  than  many  suppose.  So,  too, 
the  sending  or  giving  to  the  soldiers  small 
sums  for  the  purchase  of  luxuries,  tobac 
co,  and  the  like,  has  in  the  aggregate 
amounted  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars. 

The  establishment  of  soldiers'  asylums 
or  homes,  by  several  of  the  States,  or  as 
has  been  the  case  in  most  instances,  by 
voluntary  contribution  under  a  State 
charter,  institutions  where  the  maimed  or 
crippled  soldier,  who  is  without  a  home* 
may  find  comfort  and  light  employment 
when  he  desires  it,  is  another  of  the  man 
ifestations  of  the  interest  which  the  na 
tion  feels  in  its  soldiers.  The  same  spirit 
is  exhibited,  though  in  a  somewhat  sadder 


95 

way,  in  the  establishment  of  orphan  asy 
lums  for  the  children  of  soldiers  deceased 
in  the  war,  and  of  homes  for  soldiers'  wi 
dows  ;  the  provision  made  in  many  of  our 
literary  institutions  for  the  free  education 
of  soldiers'  sons  and  daughters,  and  the 
readiness  with  which  employment  is  fur 
nished  to  a  disabled  soldier  in  any  capa 
city  which  he  can  fill.  Very  often,  too, 
it  is  seen  in  the  shy,  respectful,  but  diffi 
dent  way  in  which,  as  fearful  of  giving 
pain,  money  is  slipped  into  the  hand  of 
the  maimed,  wounded,  or  crippled  soldier, 
not  to  encourage  or  sanction  mendicity, 
but  in  love  for  the  cause  to  which  he  has 
sacrificed  a  limb  or  suffered  a  wound, 
There  is  almost  universally  among  our 
people,  a  feeling  of  reverence  for  the  bat 
tle-scarred  and  wounded  soldier,  as  for  one 
who,  standing  face  to  face  with  death  in 
the  struggle  for  our  country's  life,  has 
only  come  off  victor  by  fearful  struggle 
and  terrible  suffering.  God  grant  that 
naught  in  the  future  may  abate  this  reve 
rential  love. 


96 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE  NECESSITY  FOR  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION 
AND  CONSOLATION  IN  THE  ARMY. — TlIE  EFFORTS  OF 
THE  YOUNG  MENS'  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. — THE  OR 
GANIZATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  CHRISTIAN  COM 
MISSION.-  -!TS  PURPOSES.— THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  COM- 
BINING  PHYSICAL  RELIEF  WITH  SPIRITUAL  TEACHING. 
— THE  LABORS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMISSION. — WHAT 
IT  HAS  ACCOMPLISHED.— OTHER  INSTITUTIONS  FOR  SUP 
PLYING  THE  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  WANTS  OF  THE  A1J- 
MY. — BIBLE  SOCIETIES. — TRACT  SOCIETIES. — PUBLICA 
TION  SOCIETIES. — MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES.— INDIVIDUAL 

EFFORTS. 

WHILE  the  Sanitary  Commission  and 
the  numerous  other  societies  and  associa 
tions  were  doing  what  they  could  for  the 
improvement  of  the  physical  condition  of 
the  soldier,  the  maintenance  of  his  health, 
and  his  restoration  from  sickness,  acquired 
in  a  malarious  climate,  the  repairing  of 
war's  fearful  ravages,  and  the  soothing  of 
the  pangs  of  dissolution,  there  was  a 
strong  and  growing  feeling  in  the  minds 
of  the  religious  public,  that  these  ends 
and  aims,  though  good,  and  by  no  means 


97 

to  be  neglected,  were   not  all  which  the 
condition  of  our  army  demanded. 

The  soldier  has  a  soul  as  well  as  a 
body,  a  soul  to  be  blighted  and  polluted 
by  the  vices  of  the  camp,  or  to  be  kept 
pure  and  holy  for  that  change  of  worlds 
which  to  so  many  must  come  with  fear 
ful  suddenness.  It  was  needed  that  the 
Christian  influences,  from  which  so  many 
had  gone  forth  to  the  camp  and  battle 
field,  should  not  be  replaced  by  intoxica 
tion,  blasphemy,  and  obscenity;  that  the 
obscene  book  and  the  pack  of  cards  should 
not  take  the  place  of  the  Scriptures,  the 
Christian  narrative,  or  the  religious  news 
paper  ;  that  the  Sabbath  should  not  be 
desecrated  beyond  what  the  exigencies  of 
the  service  demanded.  They  would  have 
the  Gospel,  with  its  benign  influences,  fol 
low  the  soldier  into  the  camp  ;  tney  would 
stimulate  his  courage  by  giving  it  a  high 
er  and  holier  biusis ;  animate  his  patriot 
ism  by  making  Christianity  its  foundation, 
and  enliven  his  faith  in  the  future  triumph 


98 

of  his  cause,  by  showing  him  that  it  was 
the  cause  of  God.  For  the  sick  and 
wounded  they  would  invoke  healing  mer 
cies  for  both  soul  and  body  from  the 
Great  Physician,  and  point  them,  in  the 
struggle  with  the  last  enemy,  to  Him  who 
is  the  Abolisher  of  Death,  the  Conqueror 
of  the  Grave. 

It  was  in  consequence  of  these  con 
victions  that,  from  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
siciaiions,  in  most  of  the  larger  cities  and 
towns  of  the  loyal  States,  had  contributed 
largely,  not  only  in  money  and  supplies, 
to  the  relief  and  comfort  of  the  soldiers, 
but  in  personal  service.  Many  of  their 
members  were  in.  the  army,  and  the 
sympathy  felt  for  them  by  those  who 
remained  at  home  prompted  to  efficient 
action  for  the  spiritual  as  well  as  physi 
cal  needs  of  the  army.  After  every  con 
siderable  battle,  members  of  these  asso 
ciations  were  dispatched  with  money, 
sanitary  stores  and  supplies,  and  religious 


99 

and  moral  reading  matter,  for  free  distri 
bution  to  the  sufferers.  One  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  that  of  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  had  contributed  in  this  way  more 
than  $28,000  for  this  purpose,  and  had 
given  in  addition  the  voluntary  services 
of  several  of  its  members  in  distributing 
supplies  and  caring  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  on  the  battle-fields  of  the  East 
and  the  West.  Others  had  done  nearly 
as  much,  some,  perhaps,  even  more. 

At  a  convention  of  these  Christian 
Associations,  held  in  New  York,  Novem 
ber  16,  1861,  it  was  resolved  to  organize 
from  the  representatives  of  these  bodies 
a  United  States  Christian  Commission, 
and  the  following  persons  were  appointed : 
Rev.  Rollin  H.  Neale,  D.D.,  Boston; 
George  H.  Stuart,  Esq.,  Philadelphia ; 
Eev.  Bishop  E.  S.  Janes,  D.D.,  New 
York  ;  Rev.  M.  L.  R.  P.  Thompson,  D.  D., 
Cincinnati;  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Ma- 
nierre,  New  York;  Colonel  Clinton  B. 
Fisk,  St.  Louis ;  Rev.  Benjamin  C.  Cutler, 


100 

D.  D.,  Brooklyn  ;  John  V.  Farwell,  Esq., 
Chicago  ;  Mitchell  H.  Miller,  Esq.,  Wash 
ington  ;  John  D.  Hill,  M.D.,  Buffalo. 
During  the  succeeding  year  Mr.  Manierre 
and  Rev.  Dr.  Cutler  resigned,  and  their 
places  were  filled  by  the  appointment  of 
Jay  Cooke,  Esq,,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Rev.  James  Eells,  D.D.,  of  Brooklyn. 

Soon  after  its  appointment  the  Com 
mission  met  in  Washington,  and  organ 
ized  by  choosing  George  H.  Stuart,  of 
Philadelphia,  Chairman,  and  B.  F.  Ma 
nierre,  of  New  York,  Secretary  arid 
Treasurer.  Its  headquarters  were  at  first 
established  in  New  York,  and  Rev.  A. 
M.  Morrison  was  appointed  Secretary, 
when  it  was  ascertained  that  the  labors 
of  the  two  offices  would  be  too  much  for 
one  man.  Mr.  Morrison's  services  were 
rendered  gratuitously.  Some  months 
were  occupied  in  the  organization  of 
branches,  in  obtaining  from  Government 
and  from  railroad  and  telegraph  lines, 
passes,  and  in  adjusting  the  details  for 


101 

the  vast  work  which  soon  began  to  flow 
in  upon  them,  and  it  was  not  till  the 
summer  of  1862,  that  the  Commission 
was  fairly  ready  for  its  work ;  meantime 
its  headquarters  had  been  removed  to 
Philadelphia,  and  Kev.  William  E.  Board- 
man  appointed  Secretary  in  place  of  Eev. 
Mr.  Morrison,  resigned. 

Its  objects,  as  declared  in  its  circulars, 
were  "  to  arouse  the  Christian  Associa 
tions  and  the  Christian  men  and  women 
of  the  loyal  States  to  such  action  toward 
the  men  in  our  army  and  navy  as  would 
be  pleasing  to  the  Master  ;  to  obtain  and 
direct  volunteer  labors,  and  to  collect 
stores  and  money  with  wrhich  to  supply 
whatever  is  needed,  reading  matter  and 
articles  necessary  for  health,  not  furnish 
ed  by  Government  or  other  agencies,  and 
to  give  the  officers  and  men  of  our  army 
and  navy  the  best  Christian  ministries,  for 
both  body  and  soul,  possible  in  their 
circumstances." 

The  Commission  is  organized  upon  the 


102 

principle  of  voluntary,  unpaid  agency. 
Its  Chairman,  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia, 
not  only  devotes  almost  his  entire  time 
to  its  service,  but  furnishes  office-room 
and  storage,  clerks,  porters,  &c.,  to  con 
duct  the  business  correspondence  and 
pack  the  stores  and  supplies,  free  of 
charge.  The  railroad  companies  have 
uniformly  given  free  passes  to  its  dele 
gates,  and  the  telegraph  companies  free 
transmission  to  its  messages.  It  has 
been  largely  aided  by  grants  of  Bibles, 
religious  books,  tracts,  &c.,  from  the 
Bible  and  publishing  societies,  and  dona 
tions  of  newspapers,  religious  and  secular, 
from  the  publishers  of  those  papers  ;  its 
delegates  are  volunteers,  whose  expenses 
of  living  are  alone  furnished  by  the 
Commission,  and  who  spend  some  weeks 
or  months  in  ministrations  of  kindness  to 
the  sick  and  wounded  ;  it  has  also  em 
ployed  a  very  large  corps  of  volunteer 
chaplains  to  visit  the  regiments  and 
brigades  of  the  army,  and  manifest  their 


103 

sympathy  with  the  soldier,  and  seek  to 
improve  his  physical  and  moral  condition. 
While  thus  a  voluntary  system,  it  acts 
only  under  the  sanction  and  with  the 
approval  of  the  Government  and  its  offi 
cers.  The  surgeons  and  chaplains  of  the 
army  are  among  its  best  friends.  Under 
standing  fully  that  there  is  sometimes 
"  more  gospel  in  a  loaf  of  bread  than  in 
a  sermon,"  it  bestows  the  loaf  of  bread 
where  it  is  needed,  and  the  Gospel  also. 
Its  distribution  of  its  stores  of  food, 
clothing,  medicines,  &c.,  are  made  with 
the  approval  and  consent  of  the  proper 
officers  only,  and  have  amounted  to  some 
what  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars 
in  value,  in  the  two  years  since  its  or 
ganization.  During  that  period  it  has 
commissioned  1,563  Christian  ministers 
and  laymen  to  minister  to  men  on  battle 
fields,  in  camps,  hospitals,  and  ships  ;  has 
distributed  568,275  copies  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  502,556  copies  of  hymn  and  psalm 
books,  1,410,061  other  books,  155,145 


104 

pamphlets,  3,326,250  religious  news 
papers,  and  22,930,428  pages  of  tracts. 
It  has  received  over  $400,000  in  money, 
and  over  $700,000  in  stores,  books,  and 
donations  of  other  descriptions.  During 
the  winter,  it  has  aided  the  regiments  in 
camps  to  erect  temporary  chapels,  of 
logs  with  canvas  roofs,  in  which  they 
have  held  religious  meetings  with  bene 
ficial  effects. 

Other  religious  organizations  have  in 
curred  large  expenditures  in  the  promo 
tion  of  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  na 
tional  army  and  navy.  The  American 
Bible  Society  has  donated  Bibles  and  Tes 
taments,  either  directly  or  through  its 
auxiliaries,  to  the  amount  of  about 
$300,000  ;  and  about  one-sixth  of  this 
amount  lias  been  in  grants  to  the  rebels, 
the  Bibles  and  Testaments,  having,  by 
permission  of  the  United  States  Govern 
ment,  been  sent  by  flag  of  truce  to  the 
rebel  lines  and  received  there  by  their  offi 
cers. 


105 

The  American  Tract  Society,  New 
York,  entered  very  heartily,  and  very 
early,  into  the  work  of  supplying  their 
books,  tracts,  and  papers  to  the  army  and 
navy,  and  found  them  readily  received, 
and  eagerly  read  by  the  soldiers  and  sail 
ors.  They  state  that  nearly  every  regi 
ment  in  the  Union  army  has  received 
more  or  less  of  their  publications  ;  they 
have  been  supplied  from  the  General  De 
pository  of  the  Society,  and  its  agencies 
at  commercial  cities,  and  at  camps,  recruit 
ing  stations,  and  hospitals,  in  all  the 
Western,  Middle,  and  Northern  States, 
and  at  camps  and  hospitals  in  front,  in 
the  different  departments  of  the  army. 
The  secretaries  and  agents  of  the  Society 
have  made  frequent  visits  to^  different 
divisions  of  the  army,  and  army  mission 
aries  have  traversed  the  camps  in  their 
faithful  visitations.  Libraries  have  been 
established  in  the  hospitals ;  hundreds  of 
ships  of  war  and  gunboats  have  been 
supplied  when  fitting  out,  and  their  chap- 


106 

lains,  pious  officers  or  sailors,  are  supplied 
from  month  to  month.  As  a  result,  it 
may  be  said  that  there  is  scarcely  a  camp 
upon  the  field,  or  regiment  in  the  ranks, 
or  ward  in  the  hospital,  or  mess  in  the 
navy,  where  the  publications  of  this  So 
ciety  have  not  been  distributed,  or  where 
they  do  not  find  a  welcome  reception. 
Since  the  war  commenced,  the  Society 
has  issued  more  than  300  distinct  publi 
cations,  with  special  reference  to  the  sup 
ply  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  the  freed- 
rnen.  Of  these,  there  have  been  printed 
and  bound  1,217,000  volumes,  2,735,096 
tracts,  and  649,000  cards  and  hand-bills, 
making  a  total  of  4,602,096  publications, 
nearly  all  of  which  have  been  distributed 
in  the  army  and  navy.  Besides  these, 
there  have  also  been  circulated  in  the  same 
quarters,  many  thousand  copies  of  "  The 
Child's  Paper,"  and  more  than  a  million 
copies  of  the  "  American  Messenger,"  in 
English  and  German.  This  distribution, 
and  the  annv  work  of  the  Society,  includ- 


107 

ing  the  labors  of  agents,  colporteurs, 
and  army  missionaries,  visiting  the  en 
campments  and  hospitals  in  the  different 
departments,  have  cost  the  Society  about 
$100,000. 

Not  less  active  and  earnest  has  been 
the  American  Tract  Society,  at  Boston, 
one  of  whose  Secretaries  has  devoted  him 
self  wholly  to  the  work  of  visiting  the 
army  and  superintending  the  distribution 
among  the  camps  of  the  East  the  publi 
cations  of  that  Society,  while  its  efficient 
Western  Secretary  has  performed  a  simi 
lar  work  in  the  armies  of  the  West.  Both 
gentlemen  have  exerted  themselves  also 
in  personal  ministrations  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers.  This  Society  has  pub 
lished  a  large  number  of  different  works 
with  special  reference  to  the  wants  of  the 
army  and  navy,  and  of  these  has  issued  : 
Of  bound  volumes,  527,000  ;  of  tracts, 
2,358,400;  of  papers,  231,232;  or  a  total 
of  publications  of  3, 1 16,632.  They  have 
also  sent  a  large  number  of  these  books 


108 

and  tracts,  of  a  more  general  character, 
tq  the  hospital  and  other  libraries,  &c., 
but  of  these  they  have  no  exact  account. 
The  expenditure  of  the  Society  in  its 
army  and  navy  work,  to  March  1,  1S64, 
has  been  $70,229.85.  The  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  the  Christian  Al 
liance,  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publi 
cation,  the  Presbyterian  (N.  S.)  Publica 
tion  Committee,  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society,  the  Episco 
pal  Tract  and  Prayer  Book  Society,  and 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Board  of  Publica 
tion,  have  also  each  expended  very  con 
siderable  sums  in  the  circulation  of  their 
publications  in  the  army.  The  publishers 
of  religious  and  literary  periodicals  and 
newspapers  have  also  contributed,  aside 
from  those  sent  through  the  Christian 
Commission,  large  quantities  of  their 
papers  and  periodicals  to  the  army,  many 
of  them  having  a  small  fund  set  apart  for 
this  purpose.  The  aggregate  value  of 


109 

these  publications  and  papers,  exclusive 
of  those  of  the  Tract  Societies,  is  riot  far 
from  $125,000.  Several  of  the  Missionary 
Societies  have  also  sent  their  missionaries 
to  labor  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the 
army,  and  have  met  with  encouraging 
success  in  these  efforts.  Of  the  expendi 
tures  incurred  in  these  movements  we 
have  been  unable  to  obtain  any  informa 
tion.  The  Societies  which  have  taken  a 
part  in  this  work  are  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  the  American  Mis 
sionary  Association,  the  American  Bap 
tist  Home  Mission  Society,  and  the  Free 
Mission  Society,  and  perhaps  some  others. 
There  were  not  wanting,  too,  instances 
of  individual  laborers,  self-supported 
messengers  of  good  to  the  soldier,  who 
sought,  without  thought  of  pecuniary 
reward  or  profit,  to  promote  his  spiritual 
interests.  f 

10 


110 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PERSONAL  SERVICES  IN  THE  AID  SOCIETIES,  IN  THE  HOSPI 
TALS,  AND  IN  THE  FIELD. — THE  SERVICES  RENDERED  IN 

THIS  WAY  THROUGH  THE  SANITARY  COMMISSION. — 
SERVICES  OF  DELEGATES  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMIS 
SION. — VOLUNTARY  INDEPENDENT  SERVICES  OF  CLERGY 
MEN,  PHYSICIANS,  AND  OTHERS. — WOMAN'S  LABORS  IN 

THE  WAR. — INCIDENTS. 

WE  have  thus  far  spoken  mainly  of  the 
philanthropy  evoked  by  the  war  in  its 
pecuniary  aspects,  as  so  much  money  or 
money's  worth  contributed  to  some  one 
or  other  of  its  many  modes  of  relief ;  but 
there  is  a  philanthropy,  a  love  of  our  fellow- 
man,  of  a  far  higher  character  than  this, 
and  leading  to  nobler  and  greater  sacri 
fices  than  those  of  gold  or  silver,  or  perish 
able  goods.  These  are  all  good  and  in 
dispensable  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
great  purposes  desired  ;  but,  by  the  side 
of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  the  gift  of 
personal  service,  the  devotion  of  an  earn 
est  and  generous  nature  to  the  work,  how 
poor  and  worthless  do  they  seem  ! 


Ill 

In  this  regard,  also,  the  philanthropy 
of  our  country  has  not  been  wanting. 
History  records  with  admiration  the 
heroic  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  of  the  Gre 
cian  mother  who  sent  forth  her  only  son 
to  the  battle-field  with  a  shield  bearing 
the  device,  "  Return  with  this,  or  upon 
it."  In  yet  higher  colors  does  it  paint 
the  fearless  spirit  of  the  women  of  Car 
thage,  who,  by  the  side  of  their  fathers, 
brothers,  lovers,  and  sons,  endured  cheer 
fully  the  horrors  of  the  Roman  siege,  and 
when  suffering  the  tortures  of  incipient 
starvation,  cut  from  their  heads  their 
beautiful  tresses,  to  furnish  bowstrings 
to  their  brave  defenders.  To  our  own 
time,  and  our  loftier,  riper  civiliza 
tion,  has  it  been  given  to  make  greater 
and  more  glorious  sacrifices  than  these  , 
to  hallow  its  offerings  upon  the  altar  of 
our  country,  by  moistening  them  with  the 
heart's  best  blood  ;  to  give  the  best  pow 
ers  of  highly  gifted  natures  to  the  minis 
trations  of  a  patriotic  tenderness,  and  not 


112 

unseldom  to  lay  down,  in  these  ministra 
tions,  lives  of  priceless  value  and  of  an 
gelic  purity. 

The  war  has  not  been  conducted  with 
hireling  troops,  mercenary  wretches,  pro 
cured  at  so  much  per  head,  and  only  fit  to 
be  food  for  powder.  No !  each  State  has 
given  to  the  service  the  purest,  gentlest, 
noblest  blood  which  flowed  in  the  veins 
of  its  sons ;  its  men  of  high  culture, 
genial  nature,  and  lofty  aspiration  ;  cler 
gymen  deeply  versed  in  theologic  lore? 
but  yet  more  deeply  familiar  with  the 
human  heart,  arid  its  joys  and  sorrows  > 
lawyers,  whose  eloquence  thrilled  all 
hearts,  as  their  legal  attainments  and 
acumen  had  won  for  them  high  renown  ; 
physicians,  whose  skill  and  scientific 
knowledge  made  them  the  leaders  of  their 
profession ;  professors,  who,  leaving  the 
universities  whose  chairs  they  had  filled  so 
well,  assumed,  with  the  utmost  cheerful- 
iriess,  subordinate  positions,  where  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  command ;  statesmen, 


113 

whose  words  of  fire  had  echoed  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  caused  a  na 
tion's  heart  to  quiver  with  patriotic  emo 
tion.  Promptly  and  joyfully  they  offered 
themselves  to  the  work  of  defending  their 
country,  not  always,  perhaps  not  in  a 
majority  of  cases,  in  positions  of  com 
mand,  for  hundreds  of  such  men  have  been 
found  as  privates  in  the  ranks. 

One  of  the  Rhode  Island  regiments  was 
almost  wholly  composed  of  the  most  emi 
nent  citizens  of  that  little  commonwealth, 
and  numbered  a  half  hundred  of  college 
graduates,  many  of  them  eminent  as  profes 
sional  men,  in  the  ranks  of  its  privates.  A 
Vermont  regiment  numbered  two  score 
men  of  collegiate  education  among  its  pri 
vate  soldiers.  An  Illinois  regiment  (the  fa 
mous  Normal  Regiment)  was  made  up  al 
most  exclusively  of  teachers.  Massachu 
setts  sent  her  noblest  sons  to  the  war,  in 
all  grades  of  rank,  and  ofttimes  received 
them  back,  "  dead  on  the  field  of  honor." 
The  names  of  her  Webster,  Willard,  Wil- 
10* 


114 

son,  Putnam,  Stearns,  Stevens,  Fuller, 
Manross,  and  Shaw,  with  those  of  many 
others,  fallen  on  the  field  of  battle,  shall 
be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  Nor 
they  alone.  Every  State  mourns,  but 
with  a  lofty  pride,  its  gallant  dead;  and 
the  hearts  of  kindred,  torn  by  the  sudden 
and  terrible  stroke,  yet  cherish  with  a 
fonder  and  holier  love  the  banner  under 
which  they  fought  and  died. 

Often,  those  who  have  been  thus  be 
reft,  have  themselves  proved  the  most 
earnest  and  efficient  rninistrants  to  the 
sick,  the  suffering,  and  the  wounded  ;  dis 
tilling  from  their  own  wounded  and  sor 
row-stricken  hearts  the  balm  of  consola 
tion  to  those  who  had  been  called  to  suffer 
for  their  country,  and  assuaging  their  own 
grief  by  imparting  consolation  to  others. 
Some  of  the  tenderest  nurses  of  the  hospi 
tal,  or  the  wounded  on  the  field,  have 
been  those  on  whose  souls  lay  the  shadow 
of  a  great  affliction ;  who  had  come  per- 


115 

haps  at  first  to  minister  to  their  own  loved 
ones,  but  finding  them  past  all  need  of 
earthly  solace,  have  turned  to  those  who 
might  yet  be  saved  to  serve  their  country, 
and  to  defend  its  institutions,  and  with  a 
sad  but  loving  zeal,  sought  their  restora 
tion  to  health. 

There  have  been  few  instances  in  his 
tory  of  a  more  sublime  devotion  to  a  great 
and  good  object  than  have  been  exhibited 
by  some  of  the  officers  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission.  For  a  period  of  almost 
three  years,  its  President  has  given,  with 
out  fee  or  reward,  to  its  service,  the  best 
hours  of  every  day,  and  has  borne  its 
great  and  varied  duties,  arid  the  measures 
for  the  best  development  of  its  rapidly 
increasing  powers  of  usefulness,  upon  his 
heart — a  work  sufficient  to  task  to  the 
utmost  the  powers  of  any  man,  whatever 
his  business  capacities.  The  members  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Commis 
sion,  all  men  whose  professional  or  busi 
ness  position  made  large  demands  upon 


110 

their  time,  have  hardly  fallen  short  of 
their  President  in  their  arduous  labors. 
The  medical  members  of  the  Commission, 
occupying  the  very  highest  rank  in  the 
profession,  have  given  much  time,  thought, 
and  labor,  to  its  duties  ;  and  the  Special 
Medical  Inspectors,  men  who  have  a 
world  wide  reputation,  in  their  arduous 
round  of  visiting  the  Military  Hospitals, 
have  conferred  a  benefit  on  the  nation,  for 
which  money  could  not  compensate. 
The  regular  Medical  Inspectors,  too,  as 
well  as  the  volunteer  assistants  on  hos 
pital  transports,  in  camp  hospitals,  and 
on  the  battle-field,  have  given  themselves 
to  the  work  with  an  earnestness  and  zeal 
which  money  could  not  buy,  and,  in  too 
many  instances,  have  sacrificed  their  lives 
to  the  intensity  of  their  labors  of  mercy. 
The  General  Secretary  and  Associate  Sec 
retaries  have  not  been  wanting  in  ability, 
energy,  and  patriotism,  and  the  prompt 
ness  and  harmony  with  which  all  their 


117 

plans  are  executed  speak  well  for  the 
spirit  which  pervades  them. 

The  officers  of  the  Western  Sanitary 
Commission,  and  of  the  Christian  Com 
mission,  and  the  delegates  of  the  latter, 
whether  clerical  or  lay,  have  shown  all 
the  ardor  and  zeal  of  volunteers,  together 
with  the  capacity  for  quiet,  steady,  pro 
tracted  hard  work,  often  under  very  try 
ing  circumstances,  which  indicates  the 
true  character  of  their  patriotism. 

In  other  organizations,  or  working  in 
dependently,  but  with  a  full  appreciation 
of  their  relative  duties  to  the  Soldier  and 
the  Government,  there  are  many  men  who 
have  won  for  themselves  the  undying  re 
membrance  of  the  soldier,  and  of  Him 
who  said,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye 
did  it  unto  me." 

This  patriotic  impulse  to  render  aid 
and  comfort  to  our  soldiers  at  any  sacri 
fice  of  time  or  service,  has  been  especially 
manifest  on  the  occasion  of  great  battles. 


118 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
and  again  after  Antietam,  and  Fredericks- 
burg,  Stone  River,  Gettysburg,  Vicks- 
burg,  and  Chickamauga,  physicians  and 
surgeons,  the  most  eminent  in  their  pro 
fession,  volunteered  by  scores  to  go  to 
the  battle-field,  or  the  temporary  hospital, 
and  exerted  their  best  skill  for  the  care 
and  healing  of  the  country's  defenders. 
Clergymen,  pastors  of  large  and  wealthy 
congregations,  sought  the  opportunity  of 
ministering  to  the  sick  and  dying  soldier, 
of  breathing  into  the  ear,  fast  growing 
dull  to  earthly  sounds,  the  words  of  spirit 
ual  consolation,  and  of  receiving  from  lips 
soon  to  become  silent  in  death,  utterances 
of  faith  and  messages  of  love.  Senators 
and  Representatives  in  Congress;  Judges 
of  the  highest  Courts,  and  members  of 
the  bar,  of  the  most  brilliant  reputation, 
sought,  in  ministrations  to  these  wounded 
and  dying  heroes,  to  taste  the  luxury  of 
doing  good.  Among  those  not  connected 
with  the  learned  professions,  too,  there 


119 

was  the  same  earnestness  and  self-sacri 
fice. 

In  more  than  one  instance,  men  brought 
up  in  luxury,  with  all  the  advantages  of 
high  and  generous  culture  and  foreign 
travel,  but  who,  ennuye'd  by  a  life  with 
out  an  object,  had  been  almost  ready  to 
regard  existence  as  a  burden,  have  found 
in  the  work  of  alleviating  the  sufferings 
of  the  soldier  their  true  vocation,  and 
have  given  to  it  their  best  energies,  realiz 
ing  in  their  heightened  enjoyment,  that 

"  The  act  of  mercy  is  twice  blessed  ; 

It  blesses  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes." 

In  this  work  of  holy  philanthropy,  how 
ever,  woman  has  borne  the  most  glorious 
part.  Here  as  ever,  in  sorrow  and  an 
guish,  as  a  ministering  angel,  she  has  done 
her  holiest  work,  and  won  her  bright 
est  trophies.  Could  the  sacrifices, 
the  self-denials,  the  persistent,  wearing 
labor,  and  the  moral  heroism  of  the  wo 
men  of  this  country,  during  the  past  three 
years,  be  fully  recorded,  the  narrative 


120 

would  be  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals 
of  history,  for  its  thrilling  interest,  its 
deep  pathos,  and  its  sublime  courage. 
But  while  such  a  record  can  only  be 
made  by  Him  who  knows  the  secrets  of  all 
hearts,  there  are  occasional  glimpses  af 
forded  to  us,  which  show  the  spirit  which 
has  actuated  so  many  of  them.  It  is  not  by 
any  means  the  educated  and  gifted  alone 
who  have  been  the  heroines  of  this  period, 
if  utter  self-abnegation,  and  a  devotion 
which  rises  above  all  else  to  comprehend 
alone  the  ideas  of  God  and  our  country, 
constitute  heroism.  In  that  little  ham 
let  on  the  bleak  and  barren  hills  of  New 
England,  far  away  from  the  great  city,  or 
even  the  populous  village,  you  will  find  a 
mother  and  daughter  living  in  a  humble 
dwelling.  The  husband  and  father  has 
lain  for  many  years  'neath  the  sod  in  the 
graveyard  on  the  hill  slope ;  the  only 
son,  the  hope  and  joy  of  both  mother  and 
sister,  at  the  call  of  duty,  gave  himself  to 
the  service  of  his  country,  and  left  those 


121 

whom  he  loved  as  his  own  life  to  toil  at 
home  alone.  By  and  by,  at  Williams- 
burg,  or  Fair  Oaks,  or  in  that  terrible  re 
treat  to  James  River,  or  at  Cedar  Moun 
tain,  it  matters  not  which,  the  swift  speed 
ing  bullet  laid  him  low,  and  after  days, 
or  it  may  be  weeks,  of  terrible  suffer 
ing,  he  gave  up  his  young  life  on  the  al 
tar  of  his  country.  The  shock  was  a 
terrible  one  to  those  lone  dwellers  on  the 
snowy  hills.  He  was  their  all ;  but  it 
was  for  the  cause  of  Freedom,  of  Right, 
of  God  ;  and  hushing  the  wild  beating  of 
their  hearts,  they  bestir  themselves,  in 
their  deep  poverty,  to  do  something  for 
the  cause  for  which  their  young  hero  has 
given  his  life.  It  is  but  little,  for  they 
are  sorely  straitened;  but  the  mother, 
though  her  heart  is  wrapped  in  the  dark 
ness  of  sorrow,  saves  the  expense  of 
mourning  apparel,  and  the  daughter 
turns  her  faded  dress ;  the  little  earnings 
of  both  are  carefully  hoarded,  the  pretty 
chintz  curtains  which  had  made  their 
H 


122 

humble  room  cheerful  are  replaced  by 
paper,  and  by  dint  of  constant  saving, 
enough  money  is  raised  to  purchase  the 
other  materials  for  a  hospital  quilt,  a  pair 
of  socks,  and  a  shirt  to  be  sent  to  the 
Relief  Association,  to  give  comfort  to 
some  poor  wounded  soldier  tossing  in 
agony  in  some  distant  hospital.  Surely, 
He  who  noticed  the  widow's  two  mites 
which  made  a  farthing,  will  record  in 
His  Book  such  deeds  of  love  as  these. 

Take  another  case,  as  reported  by  one 
of  the  Ladies'  Aid  Societies.  In  one  of 
the  mountainous  counties  at  the  North, 
in  a  scattered  farming  district,  lived  a 
mother  and  daughters,  too  poor  to  obtain 
by  purchase  the  material  for  making  hos 
pital  clothing,  yet  resolved  to  do  some 
thing  for  the  soldier.  Twelve  miles  dis 
tant,  over  the  mountain,  and  accessible 
only  by  a  road  almost  impassable,  was 
the  county  town,  in  which  there  was  a 
Relief  Association.  Borrowing  a  neigh 
bor's  horse,  either  the  mother  or  daugh- 


123 

ters  came  regularly  every  fortnight,  to 
procure  from  this  society  garments  to 
make  up  for  the  hospital.  They  had  no 
money ;  but  though  the  care  of  their 
few  acres  of  sterile  land  devolved  up 
on  them  alone,  they  could  and  would 
find  time  to  work  for  the  sufferers  in 
the  hospitals.  At  length,  curious  to 
know  the  secret  of  such  fervor  in  the 
cause,  one  of  the  Managers  of  the  Associa 
tion  addressed  them :  "You  have  some 
relative,  a  son,  or  brother,  or  father,  in 
the  war,  I  suppose?"  "No!"  was  the 
reply,  "  not  now;  our  only  brother  fell 
at  Ball's  Bluff."  "  Why,  then,"  asked 
the  Manager,  "  do  you  feel  so  deep  an 
interest  in  this  work  ?"  "  Our  country's 
cause  is  the  cause  of  God,  and  we  would 
do  what  we  can,  for  His  sake,"  was  the 
sublime  reply. 

Or  take  yet  again  this  incident  of  the 
Great  Northwestern  Sanitary  Fair,  rela 
ted  by  Eev.  F.  N.  Knapp :  "  Among  the 
wagons  which  had  drawn  up  near  the 


124 

rooms  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  to  un 
load  their  stores,  was  one  peculiar  for  its 
exceeding  look  of  poverty ;  it  was  worn 
and  mended,  and  was  originally  made 
merely  of  poles.  It  was  drawn  by  three 
horses,  which  had  seen  much  of  life,  but 
little  grain.  The  driver  was  a  man  past 
middle  age,  with  the  clothes  and  look  of 
one  who  toiled  hard,  but  lie  had  a 
thoughtful  and  kindly  face.  He  sat 
there  quietly  waiting  his  turn  to  unload. 
By  his  side,  with  feet  over  the  front  of 
the  wagon,  for  it  was  filled  very  full,  was 
his  wife,  a  silent,  worn-looking  woman  ; 
near  the  rear  of  the  wagon  was  a  girl  of 
fifteen,  perhaps,  and  her  sister,  dressed 
in  black,  carrying  in  her  arms  a  little 
child.  Some  one  said  to  the  man  (after 
asking  the  woman  with  the  child  if  she 
would  not  go  into  the  Commission  Rooms 
and  get  warm),  *  My  friend,  you  seem  to 
have  quite  a  load,  here,  of  vegetables. 
Now  I  am  curious  to  know  what  good 
things  you  are  bringing  the  soldiers;  will 


125 

you  tell  me  what  you  have  ?'  '  Yes,' 
said  he  ;  '  here  are  potatoes,  and  here  are 
three  bags  of  onions,  and  there  are  some 
rutabaga,  arid  there  a  few  turnips,  and 
that  is  a  small  bag  of  meal,  and  you  can 
see  the  cabbages  fill  in  ;  and  that  box 
with  slats  has  some  ducks  in  it,  which 
one  of  them  brought  in.'  '  Oh,  then,  this 
isn't  all  your  load  alone,  is  it?'  '  Why, 
no!  Our  region,  just  where  I  live,  is 
rather  a  hard  soil,  and  we  haven't  any 
of  us  much  to  spare,  any  way ;  yet  for 
this  business  we  could  have  raked  up  as 
much  again  as  this  is,  if  we  had  had  time. 
But  we  didn't  get  the  notice  that  the 
wagons  were  going  in,  till  last  night 
about  eight  o'clock,  and  it  was  dark  and 
raining — so  I  and  my  wife  and  the  girls 
could  only  go  round  to  five  or  six  of  the 
neighbors,  within  a  mile  or  so ;  but  we 
did  the  best  we  could.  We  worked 
pretty  much  all  the  night,  and  loaded, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  get  out  to  the  main 
road  and  start  with  the  rest  of  them  this 
11* 


126 

morning.  But  I  can't  help  it,  if  it  is 
little ;  its  something  for  those  soldiers.' 
*  Have  you  a  son  in  the  army?'  'No,' 
he  answered,  slowly,  after  turning  round 
and  looking  at  his  wife.  '  No,  I  haven't, 
now,  but  we  had  one  there  once ;  he's 
buried  down  by  Stone  Eiver ;  he  was 
shot  there.  And  that  isn't  just  so, 
either.  We  called  him  our  boy,  but  he 
was  only  our  adopted  son ;  we  took  him 
when  he  was  little,  so  he  was  just  the 
same  as  our  boy,  and'  (pointing  over  his 
shoulder,  without  looking  back)  *  that's 
his  wife,  there,  with  the  baby.  But  I 
shouldn't  bring  these  things  any  quicker 
if  he  were  alive  now,  and  in  the  army. 
I  don't  know  that  I  should  think  so  much 
as  I  do  now  about  the  boys  away  off 
there.'  " 

In  none  of  these  cases,  nor  in  the  thou 
sands  of  others  of  which  they  are  but  the 
representatives,  could  the  desire  for  ap 
plause  or  fame  have  had  any  part  in  this 
earnest  devotion  to  the  cause  of  their 


127 

country  ;  there  was  no  room  for  that;  but 
the  toil,  hard,  wearing  toil,  unmitigated 
by  aught  of  poetry  or  romance,  was  one 
of  the  noble  expressions  of  a  self-sacrificing 
philanthropy. 

Among  those  who  deserve  a  high  place 
on  the  roll  of  Christian  philanthropists 
are  the  hundreds  of  noble  women,  who, 
for  the  space  of  three  years  past,  have 
toiled  on  regularly,  week  after  week,  go 
ing  to  their  work  at  the  rooms  of  the 
Ladies'  Aid  Societies,  or  to  their  self-im 
posed  labors  at  the  hospitals  or  Homes  for 
Soldiers,  as  regularly  as  the  merchant  or 
banker  goes  to  his  business,  and  sacri 
ficing  to  it  the  enjoyments  of  luxurious 
homes  more  cheerfully  than  if  it  were  a 
festive  gathering.  To  say  that  they  have 
done  this  work  of  Christian  love  as  a  duty, 
is  a  phrase  too  cold  ;  they  have  deemed  it  a 
privilege,  a  matter  of  rejoicing,  thus  to 
make  sacrifices  for  their  country. 

Nor  would  our  record  approach  com 
pleteness  did  we  fail  to  give  due  honor  to 


128 

those  gifted  women,  who,  delicately 
trained  and  nurtured,  have  gone  from  all 
the  allurements  of  home,  the  enjoyments 
of  society,  the  endearments  of  friends,  to 
minister  personally  to  the  fevered  and  the 
maimed,  in  the  crowded  hospital,  in  the 
camp,  or  amid  the  horrors  of  the  battle 
field.  We  have  not  the  space,  nor  is  it 
consonant  with  the  purpose  of  this  work, 
to  give  the  names  of  the  scores  of  these 
heroines,  but  we  can  briefly  indicate  their 
abundant  labors.* 

They  have,  many  of  them,  been  mem 
bers  of  families  of  the  highest  social 
position  in  the  Northern  States,  refined, 
cultivated,  winning,  and  womanly  ;  and 
have  left  homes  where  they  were  tender 
ly  cherished,  and  surrounded  by  every 


°  It  is  gratifying  to  learn,  as  we  do  from  a  recently 
published  announcement,  that  a  biographical  record 
of  the  deeds  of  most  of  these  ' '  Heroines  of  the  Civil 
War"  is  in  preparation  by  a  thoroughly  competent 
writer,  and  is  to  be  published  soon  by  Mr.  N.  C.  Miller, 
of  New  York. 


129 

luxury ;  and  for  months,  and  sometimes  for 
years,  have  encountered  the  inconveniences 
of  hospital  life,  or  the  still  greater  discom 
forts  of  life  in  the  camp,  an  ambulance  or 
a  tent  their  home  by  day  or  by  night,  and 
the  soldiers'  ration,  often  scanty  and  some 
times  unpalatable,  their  only  fare — to 
"  dress  the  sores,  bind  up  the  wounds, 
cheer  the  spirits,  and  medicine  the  mala 
dies  of  those  whom  sickness  and  battle 
have  stricken."  "  Why,"  it  is  often  asked, 
"  should  these  women,  thus  richly  en 
dowed,  have  gone  forth  to  this  work, 
when  others,  perhaps,  equally  competent, 
have  remained  at  home  in  ease  and  com 
fort?"  "  Because,"  we  answer,  "  the  love 
of  country  and  of  our  glorious  institutions 
burned  so  fiercely  in  their  hearts,  that 
they  must  act ;  the  necessity  to  do  some 
thing  for  those  who  were  doing  so  much 
for  their  country's  preservation,  was  like 
a  fire  in  their  bones  ;  they  could  not  rest." 
To  many  of  them,  too,  there  came  the 
conviction  that  this  struggle  was  intimate- 


130 

ly  connected  with  that  high  and  peculiar 
civilization  whose  crowning  glory  it  has 
been  to  elevate  Woman.  The  success  of 
the  rebellion,  they  felt,  was  the  triumph 
of  barbarism ;  its  result  would  be  to  de 
prive  the  sex  of  the  opportunity  for  free 
and  full  development,  intellectual  and 
moral,  and  for  a  constant  and  beneficent 
use  of  all  those  admirable  powers  which 
God  has  given  to  woman.  It  was  then, 
also,  in  behalf  of  their  sex,  whose  social, 
intellectual,  and  moral  position  was  im 
periled  by  the  triumph  of  the  slaveholding 
power,  and  would  be  degraded  by  its  des 
potism,  if  it  were  successful,  that  these 
noblewomen  have  done  their  utmost  to 
succor  and  encourage  their  fathers,  broth 
ers,  sons,  or  lovers,  in  the  defense  of  a  na 
tion's  honor,  and  a  nation's  liberties.  Glori 
ously  have  they  acquitted  themselves  in 
this  work.  Amid  almost  superhuman  labors 
and  fatigues,  amid  perils  by  water  and  by 
land,  in  temporary  hospitals,  where  the  ene 
my's  shot  arid  shell  came  hurtling  through 


131 

the  walls,  and  now  and  then  killed  some 
wounded  and  helpless  patient ;  in  the  rear 
on  battle-fields  where  the  heavy  missiles 
from  rifled  cannon  ploughed  deep  fur 
rows  around  them;  on  burning  sands, 
amid  the  fierce  blaze  of  the  summer's  sun, 
at  Morris  Island,  or  on  the  gulf  coast,  or 
tossing  upon  the  stormy  Atlantic  in  hos 
pital  ships,  they  have  never  faltered  ;  and 
in  more  than  one  instance  have  maintained 
their  position  arid  continued  their  ministry 
when  the  surgeons  have  fled  in  terror,  and 
the  army  itself  had  commenced  a  disor 
derly  retreat.  The  work  accomplished 
by  some  of  these  women  on  the  hospital 
transports,  in  the  waters  that  bound  the 
Peninsula,  in  the  summer  of  1862,  was 
sublimer  in  its  heroism  and  self-sacrifice 
than  any  battle  of  the  war,  and  was  yet 
more  beautiful  for  the  spirit  of  cheerful 
ness  and  alacrity  in  which  it  was  per 
formed.  Not  less  sublime  was  the  devo 
tion  which  was  manifested  at  Shiloh,  at 
Harrison's  Landing,  at  Antietam,  at 


132 

Fredericksburg,  at  Stone  River,  and  at 
Gettysburg.  It  is  no  matter  of  wonder 
that  the  soldiers  have  given  to  so  many  of 
these  women  the  name  of  u  angel,"  nor 
that  a  rough  but  large  hearted  soldier,  \y~. 
ing  in  one  of  the  hospitals  of  St.  Louis, 
should  have  said  to  the  gentle  nurse  who 
had  so  tenderly  soothed  his  pain,  "  When 
you  get  to  the  gate  of  heaven,  they  won't 
ask  you  for  a  countersign ;  they'll  let  you 
right  in!" 

Several  of  these  heroines  are  the  widows 
of  Generals  slain  in  the  service,  who,  hav 
ing  themselves  tasted  the  bitter  cup  of 
anguish,  delight  to  allay  as  far  as  possible 
the  suffering  of  others  ;  one  is  the  widow 
of  a  patriotic  Governor  of  one  of  the  West 
ern  States,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  attempt 
to  bring  relief  to  the  wounded  after  the 
battle  of  Shiloh ;  others  have  lost  sons  or 
brothers  in  the  conflict,  but  many  have 
been  led  to  the  .work  only  by  that  broader 
sympathy  which  includes  all  their  patri 
otic  countrymen  as  kinsmen  in  the  cause 
of  liberty. 


133 

The  history  and  labors  of  each  are  full 
of  interest  and  pathos,  but  we  cannot 
give  them.  Of  one,  a  woman  of  rare 
gifts,  and  extraordinary  culture,  young 
and  gentle,  and  of  one  of  the  noblest  and 
best  families  of  Massachusetts,  we  may 
say,  that  from  the  day  after  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  when  she  pressed  the  hands  of 
the  wounded  soldiers  of  that  fight,  in  an 
agony  of  distress  not  less  than  their  own, 
arid  with  streaming  eyes  ministered  to 
their  necessities,  up  to  the  present  time — 
in  all  the  battles  of  Virginia  and  Mary 
land,  and  later,  in  the  deep  sands,  and  un 
der  theburning  sun  of  Morris  Island,  amid 
the  thunders  of  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
Sumter,  and  the  terrible  slaughter  in  the 
assaults  on  Wagner — her  whole  thoughts, 
time,  and  energies,  have  been  given  to  the 
care  and  help  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  of  our  country,  arid  nothing  has 
been  able  to  draw  her  from  this  blessed 
work. 

Of  another,  a  matron  of  high  social 
12 


134 

position,  it  may  be  said,  that  on  the  Pe 
ninsula  and  at  Harrison's  Landing,  before 
Washington,  at  South  Mountain,  and 
Antietam,  at  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  Gettysburg  ;  and  later  still,  after 
the  battles  of  Chickamauga  and  Chatta 
nooga,  she  has  toiled  as  few  women  could 
have  done,  to  cheer  the  spirits  and  to 
soothe  the  anguish  of  the  soldier,  to 
give  spiritual  instruction  and  consolation 
to  the  dying,  and  to  lead  them  to  the 
source  of  all  comfort.  She  has  encoun 
tered  perils  and  dangers,  from  which  most 
women  would  have  shrunk  ;  has  become 
familiar  with  the  horrors  of  war,  whether 
exhibited  on  the  field  of  carnage  or  in 
the  crowded  hospital ;  has  more  than  once 
made  her  way,  with  garments  soaked  in 
human  gore,  through  the  long  lines  of 
wounded  and  dying  soldiers,  kneeling  by 
the  side  of  each,  to  impart  some  word  of 
comfort,  or  to  wipe  the  death-damps  from 
their  brows.  Amid  all  these  scenes,  she 
retains  the  modesty,  the  retiring  diffi- 


135 

dence,  and  the  unwillingness  to  speak  of 
herself,  or  her  labors,  which  characterizes 
the  true  heroine. 

There  are  others,  and  many  of  them, 
as  deserving,  perhaps,  of  a  record  in  our 
pages  for  their  sacrifices  and  labors,  but 
our  limits  do  not  permit  us  to  name  them 
here.  Of  all  of  them,  it  may  be  said  as 
of  her  who  anointed  the  Saviour's  feet, 
"  she  hath  done  what  she  could.** 


136 


CHAPTEK  VII. 

CONTRIBUTIONS  AND  LABORS  IN  BP:HALF  OP  THE  FREEDMEN. 
— SOCIETIES  ORGANIZED  FOR  THEIR  RELIEF  AND  INSTRUC 
TION. — THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU  AT  WASHINGTON. 

THE  PERSECUTION  OF  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR  IN  NEW  YORK 
DURING  THE  JULY  RIOTS.— PROMPT  AND  LIBERAL  RE 
PARATIONS  MADE  BY  VOLUNTARY  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF 

CITIZENS. — FUNDS  ALSO  RAISED  FOR  POLICE  WHO  HAD 
AIDED  IN  PUTTING  DOWN  THE  RIOT. — TlIE  WHITE 
REFUGEES  AND  THEIR  NEEDS. 

THE  claims  of  another  class,  reduced  to 
destitution  by  the  war,  to  be  relieved, 
were  beginning  to  press  upon  the  consid 
eration  of  the  charitable.  In  those  sec 
tions  of  the  Southern  States,  invaded  and 
occupied  by  our  troops,  the  slaveholders, 
when  compelled,  from  their  active  par 
ticipation  in  the  rebellion,  to  abandon 
their  estates,  left,  for  the  most  part,  the 
feeble  and  infirm  slaves  upon  their  plan 
tations — the  old  or  sickly  women,  and 
the  young  children — and  compelled  the 
able-bodied  slaves,  the  4<  prime  hands," 
as  they  were  called,  to  go  with  them  to 


137 

the  interior,  or  sold  them  in  the  States 
where  slavery  was  yet  regarded  as  safe. 
Many  of  these  afterward  escaped,  and 
came  into  the  employ  of  the  Union  forces 
in  various  capacities.  But  the  feeble  and 
infirm  could  not  be  suffered  to  perish  ; 
and  arrangements  were  made,  under 
Government  direction,  to  employ  such  of 
them  as  were  able  to  work,  on  the  plan 
tations  which  had  been  abandoned,  or  in 
work  in  the  vicinity  of  the  camps,  and  to 
allow  moderate  rations  for  their  suste 
nance.  It  was  found,  however,  very 
soon,  that  they  needed  clothing,  superin 
tendence,  schools  for  the  children,  &c., 
&c. ;  and  while,  so  far  as  they  were  able, 
they  were  willing  to  pay  moderate  prices 
for  these  supplies,  a  considerable  portion 
must  be  donated.  Freedmen's  Belief 
Societies  were  accordingly  organized  in 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Cincin 
nati,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis ;  and  clothing, 
agricultural  implements,  books  of  instruc 
tion,  &c.,  &c.,  forwarded  to  them.  The 
12* 


138 

Bible  and  religious  publication  societies 
appropriated  large  numbers  of  simple 
reading  books,  primers,  and  Testaments 
for  their  use,  and  the  Missionary  Societies, 
as  well  as  the  Freedmen's  Relief  Societies, 
sent  teachers  and  missionaries  among 
them.  Schools  were  opened  for  all  who 
would  attend  (and  this  included  nearly 
all  the  freedmen,  from  three  years  old  to 
eighty),  at  Washington,  Norfolk,  New- 
bern,  Hilton  Head,  Beaufort,  Fernandina, 
New  Orleans,  Vicksburg,  Milliken's 
Bend,  Memphis,  and  elsewhere.  In  this 
work  the  Western  Sanitary  Commis 
sion  has  borne  a  noble  part.  Its  Presi 
dent,  Judge  Yeatman  has  for  more  than 
six  months  past  devoted  almost  his  whole 
time  to  the  investigation  of  their  condi 
tion  and  wants  and  to  devise  means  for 
their  employment  at  fair  wages,  and  with 
humane  treatment.  In  January  of  the 
present  year,  he  prepared,  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Mellen,  agent  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  such  regulations  for  leasing 


139 

abandoned  plantations,  as  will  secure  to 
the  frecdmen  just  compensation  and 
kind  care,  In  the  autumn  of  1863, 
special  contributions  of  clothing,  &c., 
were  solicited  for  the  thousands  of 
freedmen  and  their  families,  in  the  Mis 
sissippi  Valley,  who  were  too  old  and 
infirm,  or  too  young,  to  be  able  to 
work  (the  able  bodied  men  and  women 
having  been  either  employed  in  the  army 
or  driven  off  by  their  rebel  masters).  The 
appeal  was  made  at  the  instance  of  Gen. 
Grant,  and  met  with  a  hearty  and  grati 
fying  response.  In  all  about  $382,000 
have  been  contributed  for  the  relief  and 
instruction  of  the  freedmen. 

The  large  numbers  of  emancipated 
slaves  who  have  come  into  our  lines  since 
the  promulgation  of  the  President's  proc 
lamation,  and  their  docility  and  eager 
ness  to  do  all  they  can  for  their  own  sup 
port,  and  for  the  Government  which  has 
emancipated  them,  has  rendered  a  special 
Department  of  Government  necessary 


140 

for  the  management  of  affairs  connected 
with  them.  The  Freedmen's  Relief  So 
cieties  have  accordingly  urged  the  erec 
tion  of  a  Freedmen's  Bureau  upon  Con. 
gress,  and  a  bill  for  its  organization  is  now 
before  that  body. 

In  July,  186-3,  a  mob,  composed  prin 
cipally  of  the  most  degraded  portion 
of  the  population,  ravaged  New  York 
for  four  days,  committing  highway  rob 
bery,  arson,  and  murder  at  will.  The 
pretext  for  their  atrocious  brutality  was 
the  attempted  enforcement  of  the  draft  • 
the  real  motive  which  actuated  their 
leaders  was  hostility  to  the  Government. 
This  mob  were  guilty  of  the  most  horrible 
acts  of  cruelty  toward  the  people  of  color 
of  the  city.  Peaceable,  unoffending 
negroes  were  hung,  drowned,  beaten  to 
death,  and  their  houses  sacked  and  burned 
by  these  incarnate  fiends.  This  cruel 
persecution  of  a  quiet  and  inoffensive 
people  induced  a  decided  reaction  of  feel, 
ing  in  their  favor  on  the  part  of  the 


141 

citizens  generally.  The  sum  of  $42,600, 
beside  clothing  to  the  value  of  many 
thousands  of  dollars,  was  promptly  con 
tributed  for  their  relief,  and  $55,000  more 
was  subscribed  for  the  benefit  of  the  po 
licemen  or  their  families  who  had  been 
injured  in  putting  down  the  riot.  Other 
contributions  to  a  considerable  amount 
were  subsequently  made  for  the  relief  of 
the  colored  children  and  others  who  were 
sufferers  by  the  riots. 

The  Unionists  of  the  Southern  States, 
many  of  whom  had  suffered  everything 
but  death,  and  thousands  death  itself,  at 
the  hands  of  the  rebels,  also  claimed 
Christian  charity  and  aid  at  the  hands  of 
their  brethren  at  the  North.  They  were 
deserving  of  it ;  many  of  them  had  ad 
hered,  with  a  love  stronger  than  death, 
to  the  old  flag,  and  had  been  loyal  when 
all  around  them  were  drawn  away  by  the 
specious  pleas  of  the  leaders  of  the  rebel 
lion.  They  had  taken  calmly,  even  joy 
fully,  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  and  had 


142 

welcomed  most  heartily  the  advent  of  the 
Army  of  Freedom  ;  but  intensely  loyal  as 
they  were,  they  were  naked  and  starving, 
and  the  relief  which  the  army  could  afford 
them  was  but  slight.  The  appeals  made 
in  their  behalf  were  responded  to  with 
cheerfulness,  and  in  New  York,  Boston, 
and  Philadelphia  nearly  $150,000  in  money 
and  clothing,  in  large  amounts,  were  con 
tributed  to  their  relief.  The  Government 
has  taken  measures  to  supply,  as  far  as 
practicable,  the  more  urgent  wants  of 
these  deserving  citizens,  and  to  mitigate 
their  sufferings. 


143 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

AID  TO  SUFFERERS  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES. — THE  LANCA 
SHIRE  AND  DERBYSHIRE  OPERATIVES. — THE  IRISH  SUF- 
FERERS.-THE  FRENCH  OPERATIVES.— OTHER  MOVEMENTS 
OF  PHILANTHROPY. — THE  ALLOTMENT  SYSTEM  IN  THE 
ARMY. — THE  NATIONAL  CEMETERIES  AT  GETTYSBURG, 
CHATTANOOGA,  STONE  RIVER,  AND  ANTIETAM.— THE 
IMPULSE  GIVEN  TO  HOME  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY 
OPERATIONS  AND  TO  OTHER  BENEVOLENT  ENTERPRISES. — 
THE  CANCELING  OF  CHURCH  DEBTS,  RAISING  OF  CLER 
GYMEN'S  SALARIES,  ERECTION  OP  NEW  CHURCHES,  &C.» 
&c. — CONCLUSION. 

THERE  was  still  another  appeal  to  the 
sympathies  of  the  nation,  and  this  time 
from  over  the  sea.  The  sudden  falling  off 
of  imports  from  England  and  France,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  leaving 
many  of  the  manufacturers,  for  a  time, 
without  a  market  for  their  goods,  occa 
sioned  much  embarrassment  and  many 
failures  among  them ;  and  before  the  sur 
plus  of  goods  had  been  exhausted,  the 
rapid  rise  in  the  price  of  cotton,  resulting 
from  the  necessary  state  of  blockade,  ren 
dered  production  unprofitable,  and  the 


144 

subsequent  scarcity  of  that  staple  made 
it  impossible  to  keep  the  mills  employed. 
Under  these  circumstances,  nearly  four 
hundred  thousand  of  the  operatives  in  the 
cotton  mills  of  Lancashire  and  Derby 
shire,  and  those  dependent  upon  them, 
were  thrown  out  of  employment,  and  soon 
began  to  suffer  from  starvation.  They 
bore  up  bravely  under  their  privations  as 
long  as  it  was  possible ;  and  fully  satis 
fied  that  the  war  in  this  country  to  put 
down  a  rebellion  caused  by,  and  based 
upon  slavery,  was  a  just  one,  they  stead 
ily  refused  to  throw  the  blame  of  their 
sufferings  upon  the  United  States  Govern 
ment,  though  often  solicited  to  do  so  by 
English  sympathizers  with  the  South. 
Their  condition  was  daily  growing  more 
desperate;  and  though  subscriptions  for 
their  relief  were  made  in  England  to  the 
amount  of  $9,000,000  or  $10,000,000, 
there  was  still  a  large  amount  of  suffering 
to  be  relieved.  The  loyal  American  peo 
ple  felt  that  it  was  due  to  themselves  that 


145 

they  should  manifest  their  hearty  sympa 
thy  with  their  brethren  in  distress,  espe 
cially  since  that  distress  had  grown,  in 
part  at  least,  out  of  the  inevitable  conse 
quences  of  the  war,  and  those  who  were 
the  chief  sufferers  from  it  had  been  their 
firm  friends  under  the  most  trying  cir 
cumstances.  The  movement  for  sending 
aid  to  them  was  hailed  with  joy  in  al 
quarters  ;  contributions  poured  in  from 
all  the  principal  cities,  and  from  country 
towns  as  well. 

An  eminent  shipping  house  offered  a 
new  and  capacious  vessel,  to  bear  the 
gifts  of  the  nation  to  England ;  it  was 
soon  freighted  and  dispatched,  but  could 
not  carry  all  that  was  offered.  The  Corn 
Exchange  freighted  (in  part)  another  ves 
sel,  and  a  considerable  amount  was  for 
warded  in  bills  of  exchange.  Philadel 
phia  also  contributed  a  ship-load  of  pro 
visions  to  these  sufferers.  The  aggregate 
amount  contributed  for  the  relief  of  the 
Lancashire  and  Derbyshire  operatives, 
13 


146 

was  about  $252,000.  A  few  thousand 
dollars  were  also  contributed  for  the 
French  operatives  of  the  Department  of 
Seine  Inferieure,  Rouen,  &c..  who  were 
suffering,  though  in  a  less  degree. 

But  the  charities  of  the  nation  did  not 
stop  here.  No  sooner  were  supplies  for 
warded  to  the  English  operatives,  than  it 
was  found  that  extensive  suffering  and 
incipient  starvation  were  threatening  a 
large  portion  of  the  manufacturing  dis 
tricts  in  Ireland,  and  that  but  little  aid 
was  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  English 
Government  or  people.  The  Irish  people 
were  bound  to  us  by  strong  ties ;  they 
had  offered  their  services  freely  for  the 
war,  and  on  every  battle-field  they  had 
proved  their  valor  and  shed  their  blood. 
We  could  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  their  ap 
peals  for  help,  and  again,  and  up  to  the 
present  time,  contributions  have  flowed 
in  liberally  for  their  assistance,  and  more 
than  $120,000  have  been  raised  for  their 
relief. 


147 

Our  volunteer  soldiers  have  not  been 
unmindful  of  the  responsibilities  which 
the  nation's  trust  and  large-hearted  liber 
ality  has  imposed  on  them.  An  Act  of 
Congress  has  been  passed  providing  that 
the  soldier  may,  under  certain  regulations 
which  render  fraud  impossible,  allot  such 
portion  of  his  pay  as  he  desires  for  the 
benefit  of  his  family,  or  those  dependent 
upon  him;  and  in  several  of  the  States, 
citizens  of  the  highest  character  and  stand 
ing  have  given  their  services  without  fee 
or  reward  as  commissioners,  to  visit  the 
regiments,  and  procure  from  the  men 
allotments  for  their  families.  In  the  State 
of  New  York,  as  a  result  of  this  effort, 
over  $8,000,000  per  annum  is  thus  for 
warded  to  soldiers'  families  ;  in  several 
of  the  other  States,  the  amount,  though 
smaller,  is  in  about  the  same  proportion 
to  troops  they  have  in  the  field.  In  the 
aggregate,  more  than  $25,000,000  per 
annum  is  thus  saved  from  the  greed  of  the 
sutlers,  or  the  rapacity  of  the  gamblers, 


148 

and  other  harpies,  who  always  follow  an 
army  to  plunder  its  soldiers. 

The  proposition  to  consecrate  a  Na 
tional  Cemetery  for  the  heroes  who  fell  at 
Gettysburg,  was  welcomed  most  heartily 
throughout  the  loyal  States,  and  the  Legis 
latures  of  the  several  States,  as  well  as 
citizens  in  all  quarters,  have  contributed 
liberally  to  the  fund  necessary  for  its  com 
pletion  and  adornment ;  and  similar  mea 
sures  are  in  progress  for  gathering,  in  ap 
propriate  graves,  with  the  only  honors  a 
nation  can  bestow,  the  gallant  dead  of 
Antietam,  Stone  River,  and  Chattanooga. 
On  the  monuments  which  shall  crown 
those  heights,  and  stand  as  sentinels  over 
the  mighty  and  heroic  dead,  future  ages 
shall  read  the  names  of  those  who  loved 
their  country's  honor  and  freedom  better 
than  life. 

Amid  all  these  demands  upon  the  libe 
rality  of  a  noble  and  generous  people,  it 
is  a  fact  of  deep  interest,  that  no  one  of 
the  charitable  organizations  of  a  peaceful 


149 

time  has  been  stinted ;  the  orphan  asy 
lums,  homes  for  the  friendless,  asylums 
for  the  aged  and  indigent,  the  dispensa 
ries,  infirmaries,  and  hospitals,  the  asso 
ciations  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  and  all 
those  charities  which  have  their  claims 
upon  the  public,  alike  in  times  of  peace 
and  war,  have  been  abundantly  supported, 
and  many  new  ones  for  the  relief  and 
maintenance  of  the  children  of  deceased 
or  disabled  soldiers,  or  for  giving  to  the 
crippled  soldier  himself  a  home,  where  he 
may  spend  the  evening  of  life  in  quiet  and 
comfort,  have  sprung  up,  and  received 
large  contributions.  The  great  religious 
societies,  whether  national  or  denomina 
tional,  have  had  a  larger  income  than  in 
times  of  peace ;  schools  and  colleges  have 
been  amply  supported,  and  many  of  the 
latter  liberally  endowed  ;*  the  salaries  of 

*Yale  College  has  received  endowments  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars  since 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  many  other  col 
leges  and  universities  sums  varying  from  $50,000  to 
$300,000. 

.3* 


150 

the  clergy  have  been  very  generally  in 
creased,  and  in  hundreds  of  instances 
debts,  which  had  crippled  the  activity  and 
impaired  the  usefulness  of  churches  and 
congregations,  have  been  paid  off  during 
the  past  year. 

In  this  hasty  sketch  of  the  charities 
evoked  by  the  war,  we  have  necessarily 
omitted  all  mention  of  many  of  the  ac 
tive  organizations  which  have  devoted 
themselves  to  the  welfare  of  the  soldiers ; 
and  have,  of  course,  been  unable  to  give 
even  an  approximate  statement  of  the 
vast  amount  contributed  directly  by  in 
dividuals  to  the  objects  of  their  bene 
ficence.  We  have,  however,  as  we  be 
lieve,  demonstrated  conclusively,  that, 
neither  in  ancient  nor  modern  times,  has 
there  been  so  vast  an  outpouring  of  a 
nation's  wealth  for  the  care,  the  comfort, 
and  the  physical  and  moral  welfare  of 
those  who  have  fought  the  nation's  bat 
tles  or  been  the  sufferers  from  its  condition 
of  war. 


151 

While  then,  in  this  regard,  the  record 
of  the  United  States  is  one  which  con 
fers  the  highest  honor  upon  its  humanity, 
its  philanthropy,  and  its  patriotism,  it  is 
yet,  when  viewed  aright,  no  matter  of 
surprise  that  the  national  heart  should 
have  been  thus  stirred  to  its  innermost 
depths  ;  for  never,  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race,  was  there  a  rebellion  so  ut 
terly  unjustifiable  in  its  character  ;  or 
which,  aiming  at  the  subversion  of  a 
benign  Government,  only  that  it  might 
rear  upon  its  ruins  a  despotism,  having 
slavery  for  its  corner-stone,  was  so  well 
calculated  to  call  forth  the  scorn  and  ab 
horrence  of  all  good  and  honorable  men. 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


NOTE.— In  the  following  Statistical  Tables  it  has 
been  necessary,  in  some  instances,  to  estimate  the 
amounts  contributed  by  small  societies,  individuals, 
&c.,  in  the  aggregate.  Wherever  this  has  been  ne 
cessary,  it  has  only  been  done  after  the  most  careful 
inquiry  and  investigation,  and  a  comparison  of  the 
views  of  cautious  and  well-informed  persons,  and  the 
lowest  estimate  has  invariably  been  taken.  It  is  be 
lieved,  therefore,  that  the  amounts  are,  in  nearly 
every  case,  below  the  actual  sums  contributed. 


Tabular  Statement  of  the  Contributions  for  vari 
ous  purposes,  connected,  directly  or  indirectly, 
with  the  War,  to  February,  1864. 


1.  Amount  expended  by  the  States 
for  the  equipment  and  mainte 
nance  of  troops  not  reimbursed, 
or  guaranteed  to  be  reimbursed, 
by  the  General  Government  : 

Maine  

$40,000  00 
60,000  00 
75,000  00 
1,963,311  88 
605,847  74 
392,900  94 
3,340,9-13  00 
251,320  03 
1  *48,000  01 

AGGREGATE. 
$10.937.323  59 

New  Hampshire  (estimated)  
Vermont  

Massachusetts  

Rhode  Island  

Connecticut  

New  York 

New  Jersey  (estimated) 

Pennsylvania  

Ohio  (estimated)  .... 

1,600,000  00 
450,000  00 
250,000  00 
420,000  00 
40,000  00 

Indiana  

Wisconsin    

Iowa  

Kansas  

Carried  forward.  .  . 

153 


AGGREGATE. 
$10,937,323  59 

II.  Bounties,  Extra  Pay,  and  Al 
lowance  to  Families  of  Volun 
teers  ,  made  by  States  : 

$4,000,000  00 

New  Hampshire  (estimated)  
Vermont  

1,225,000  00 
2,000,000  00 

Massachusetts  

7,625,436  00 

Rhode  Island  .... 

2,668,350  00 

4,169,767  84 

New  York           .           ... 

13,562,947  00 

New  Jersey  (estimated)  

1,800,000  00 

100,000  00 

Ohio     

5,000,000  00 

3,000,000  00 

Michigan                          

1,400,000  00 

Wisconsin                            

720  000  00 

Iowa  

314,000  00 

J.T  ^s^  ^nn  KA 

III.  Moneys  contributed  by   Cities, 
Towns,  Corporations,  and  Indi 
viduals,  for  raising  and  re 
cruiting  regiments,  aside  from 
bounties  and  relief  to  Familits  : 

In  1861  

7,120,000  00 

In  1862  

16,150,000  00 

In  1863  

8,360.000  00 

In  January  and  February,  1864..  . 

2,600,000  00 

IV.  Bounties  and  Aid  to  Families 
of  Volunteers,  contributed   by 
Counties,  Towns,  Cities,  Corpo 
rations,    and   Individuals    in 
each  State  : 

Maine  (estimated)  

1  260  000  00 

34,230,000  00 

New  Hampshire 

860  000  00 

Vermont  

,000,000  00 

Massachusetts  ....            .   . 

1  815  285  30 

Rhode  Island  

943,825  06 

Connecticut  

3,746,360  00 

Carried  forward.  .  . 

$10,625,470  36 

$92.752,824  43 

154 


Brought  forward 

$10,625,470  36 
27,155,272  83 
4,300,000  00 

12,200,000  00 
60,000  00 
800,000  00 
10,750,000  00 
3,500,000  00 
4.720.000  00 
1  ',350|000  00 
2,135.000  00 
1,250,000  00 
150,000  00 
500.000  00 
100,000  00 

AGGREGATE. 
$92,752,824  43 

79,595,743  19 
816,041  00 

New  York  

New  Jersey  (estimated)  
Pennsylvania  (of  which  Philadel 
phia  contributed  over  five  mil 
lion  dollars)  

Delaware. 

Ohio  (estimated)  . 

Indiana.         

Illinois  

Michigan  (estimated)  

Wisconsin  

Iowa  

Minnesota  (estimated)  

Missouri  (estimated)         .... 

Kansas  

V.  State  Contributions  for  Side,  and 
Wounded  Soldiers,  Governors' 
Contingent    Fund    or    Special 
Appropriations. 

Maine  

$25,000  00 
40,000  00 
35,400  00 
28,641  00 
250,000  00 
10/100  00 
10),  000  00 
69,000  00 
48,000  00 
40.003  00 
100,000  00 
T,  000  00 
50,000  00 

Vermont  

Massachusetts  

Connecticut. 

New  York  

Maryland 

Indiana  

Illinois 

Michigan      

Wisconsin 

Iowa  

Minnesota  (estimated) 

Missouri                 .   .            .... 

VI.  Contributions  of  States  to  Na 
tional    Defense,    not   included 
under    any    of   the  foregoing 
heads  : 

Maine  for  harbor  defenses 

$200,000  00 

Carried  forward.  .  . 

$200,000  00 

$173,164,60862 

155 


Brought  forward         

$200,000  00 

1,500,000  00 
1,000,000  00 

3,500.000  00 
1,800,000  00 
140,000  00 

700,000  00 
1,000,000  CO 

2,500,000  00 
2)0,000  00 

500,000  00 

AGGREGATE. 
$173,164,60862 

13,040,000  00 
1,005,000  00 

Massachusetts,    for    harbor    and 
coast  defenses,  and  State  war 
vessels        

New  York,  for  harbor  defenses. 
&c                

Pennsylvania,  for  harbor  defenses 
and  protection  from  invasion.. 
Ohio,  for  protection  of  river  line.  . 
Indiana,  for  State  Legion  

Maryland,  for  Home  Guards,  and 
to  repel  invasion  

Kentucky,  for  Home  Guards,  &c.  . 
Missouri,  for  Home  Guards  and 
State  Militia      

Iowa,  for  border  defense  
Minnesota,  for  defense  against  In- 

VII.    Contributions  by  Individuals 
or  Associations,  for  the  general 
purposes  of  National  Defense, 
tCc.  ,  not  enumerated  above  • 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  New  York. 
Tho    steamship    "Vanderbilt" 
presented  to  the  Government  — 
Appraised  value. 

$800,000  00 
25,000  00 
30.000  00 

150,000  00 

"W.   H.   Aspinwall  —  Commissions 
presented  to  the  Government.. 
Other    individuals  —  Commissions, 
&c.  ,  donated 

Loyal  Leagues  —  Cash  raised  for 
organization    of    colored    regi 
ments,  &c  

Total  contributions  from  States, 
counties,  towns,  cities,  corpora 
tions,  and  individuals,  for  aid 
and  relief  of  soldiers  and  their 
families,  and   for  purposes    of 
national  defense  ,not  rei  mbursed  . 
or  to  be  reimbursed,  by  the  Gen 
eral  Government  

•SIS  7  9.0Q  ROS^'2 

156 


VIll.  Contributions  for  the  Care  and 
Ctomfort  of  Soldiers,  whether  in 
Cani2'>,  or  Sick  and  Wounded, 
and  for  their  Families,  from 
Associations  and  Individuals  : 

United  States  Sanitary  Commis 
sion   in  money 

$1  33  628  28 

AGGREGATE. 

receipts  from  fairs  in  Brooklyn. 
Albany  ,Poughkeepsie,and  Yonk 
ers,  not  yet  paid  over  —  about.  . 
United  States  Sanitary  Commis 
sion  —  Supplies  —  estimated  value 
Philadelplra   Branch  of  Sanitary 
Commission,    not    included    in 
above                     .  .  . 

550,000  00 
7,000,000  CO 

135  000  00 

Cincinnati  Branch,  not  included  in 
above  about 

300  000  00 

Northwestern   Sanitary  Commis 
sion  (Chicago  Branch)  

130,000  00 

Western   Sanitary  Commission  — 
in    money  and    supplies,    esti 
mated  value  by  officers  of  Com- 
mi^sion 

1  750  000  00 

Iowa  State  Sanitary  Commission  — 
money  and  supplies 

175  500  00 

Indiana  State  Sanitary  Commis 
gion  —  money  and  supplies 

320  000  00 

Illinois    Commissioner  -  General  — 
money  and  supplies 

450  000  00 

United  States  Christian  Commis 
sion  —  in  money 

400  000  00 

United  States  Christian  Commis 
sion  —  supplies  

700  748  36 

New  England  Soldiers'  Relief  As 
sociation  —  money  . 

28  000  CO 

New  England  Soldiers'  Relief  As 
sociation  —  supplies  .   .  . 

200  000  00 

Ladies'  Aid  Society,  Philadelphia 
•  —  money 

19  380  00 

Ladies'  Aid  Society,  Philadelphia 
—  supplies  at  Home  Office,  "and 
sent  to  Secretary  in  the  field.  .  . 
Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut  —  money    and    sup 
plies  

210,000  00 
75  000  00 

Carried  forward.  .. 

$13,569.256  64 

157 


Brought  forward     ... 

$13.569  256  64 

Union  Relief  Association,  of  Balti 
more,  and  other  Baltimore  asso 
ciations  —  in  money  

80  000  00 

Union  Relief  Association,  of  Balti 
more,  &c.  —  supplies  

170000  00 

State  Relief  Associations  at  Wash 
ington  —  money  and  supplies  — 
Other  relief  associations  ,  East  and 
West,  not  connected  with  the  na 
tional  organizations  (estimated) 
Union  Volunteer  Refreshment  Sa 
loon,  Philadelphia  —  money  
Union  Volunteer  Refreshment  Sa 
loon,  Philadelphia  —  supplies... 
Cooper  Shop  Refreshment  Saloon. 
Philadelphia  —  money  

1,030,000  00 

1,200.000  00 
40,000  00 
17,000  00 
40  £32  22 

Cooper  Shop  Refreshment  Saloon. 
Philadelphia  —  supplies  

15  000  00 

Subsistence     Committee,     Pitts 
burgh—money  and  supplies  
Citizens'  Volunteer  Hospital  ,  Phila 
delphia  —  money,  labor,  and  sup- 

35,000  00 
23  047  95 

State  Soldiers'  Depot,  New  York 
city  —  money  

60  000  OG 

State  Soldiers'  Depot,  New  York 
city  —  supplies  

10  000  00 

Other  Soldiers'  Homes,  Rests,  &c., 
not  connected  with  the  Sanitary 
Commissions,  in  tho  principal 
cities  

160  000  00 

American   Bible  Society  and  its 
auxiliaries,   bibles   and    testa 
ments   distributed   to  soldiers 
and  to  rebels  . 

300  000  00 

American    Tract    Society,     New 
York,  for  books  and  tracts  dis 
tributed  to  soldiers,  and  servi 
ces  of  Missionaries  and  colpor 
teurs  

100,000  00 

American  Tract  Society,  Boston, 
for  books  and  tracts  distributed 
to  soldiers,  and  services  of  Mis 
sionaries  and  colporteurs  

70,229  85 

Carried  forward.  .  . 

316,920,765  96 

Drought  forward 

Other  religious  societies,  Mission 
aries  and  publications 

Supplies  and  money  distributed  tc 
armies  in  Virginia  and  the  de 
partment  of  the  South,  and  to 
hospitals  inWashington  ,througb 
individuals  not  connected  with 
any  of  the  National  organiza 
tions 

Money  for  postage,  stationery, 
newspapers,  books,  and  sup 
plies,  distributed  to  hospitals 
by  private  individuals  not  con 
nected  with  National  organiza 
tions  

Supplies  and  money  forw  rdcd  to 
Western  armies,  camps,  and 
hospitals,  directly  from  towns. 
cities,  and  villages,  and  not 
passing  through  other  organiza 
tions 

Ambulances  for  sick  and  wounded . 
built  and  maintained  by  Phila 
delphia  flremcn 

Asylums  and  homes  for  disabled 
soldiers  and  for  children  of  de 
ceased  soldiers  in  New  York 
and  elsewhere 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa 
tions,  aside  from  contributions 
through  the  Christian  Commis 
sion 

Board  of  Trade,  Chicago,  for 
"  Board  of  Trade  Regiments". . . 

State  Military  Agents,  in  New  York 
and  Philadelphia 

Expenses  in  procuring  the  passage 
of  tho  Ambulance  Corps  Bill. . 

Total  of  contributions  for  caro  and 
comfort  of  soldiers  by  associa 
tions  and  individuals 


$16,920,765  9C 
125,000  0: 


1.350,000  00 
1,200,000  00 

4,000,000  CO 
20,603  00 

220,000  00 

128,000  00 

65,000  00 

12,000  00 

3,500  00 


AGGREGATE. 


$24,044,865  96 


159 


IX.    Contributions  for    Sufferers 
abroad. 

International  Relief  Fund,    New 
York,  for  Lancashire  sufferers.  . 
Corn  Exchange  Fund,  for  Lanca 
shire  sufferers  .  .  . 

$102.140  74 
60,000  00 

60.000  00 
8;000  00 

30,000  00 
30.030  00 
15,000  00 
45.0CO  CO 

AGGREGATE. 
$380,140  74 

Philadelphia     contributions     for 
Lancashire  sufferers 

Belief  of  French  operatives  .     . 

Ship-load  of  provisions  for  Irish 
sufferers,  contributed  by  A.  T. 
Stewart,  New  York  

Contributions  for  Irish  relief,  in 
New  York  

Contributions  for  Irish  relief,  in 
Brooklyn  

Contributions  for  Irish  relief,  clse- 

X.  Contributions    for    Freedmen, 
Sufferers  from  the  Riois,  and 
White  Refugees. 

Freedmen's   Relief    Association, 
New  York  —  money  and  supplies 
Other  Freedmen's  ReMef  Associa 
tions  and  contributions  
Aid  to  Freedmcn  by  Missionarv 
Societies  ,  &c  

$172,144  13 
150,000  00 
60,  COO  00 

42,600  00 
55,000  00 
150,000  00 

$639,644  13 

Amount  contributed  to  Merchants' 
Committee,  New  York,  for  re 
lief  of  colored  persons  injured 
or  robbed  during  the  New  York 
riots  

Amount  contributed  for  Police  in 
jured  in  the  riots  

Aid  to  white  Union  refugees  from 
the  South  

160 


RECAPITULATI  jx. 

Total  contributions  from  States, 
counties,  towns,  &c. ,  for  aid  and 
relief  of  soldiers  and  their  fami- 
1  ies ,  and  for  purposes  of  National 
defense 

Total  contributions  for  care  and 
comfort  of  soldiers,  &c. ,  by  as 
sociations  and  individuals 

Contributions  for  sufferers  abroad. 

Contributions  for  Frcedmen,  suf 
ferers  from  the  riots,  and  white 
refugees  


Amount  of  Philanthropic  Resu't? 
of  War 


$187,209,608  62 


24,044,8C5  96 
380,140  74 


039,644  13 


AGGREGATE. 


$212,274,25945 


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